00:04While access to the World Cup has been challenging for national teams in the Oceania Confederation,
00:10qualification for the Club World Cup for club sides in the region has been an annual treat.
00:18Back in 2000, it was Ange Postacoglu's first opportunity to strut his stuff on the international stage.
00:26When the future Tottenham and Celtic manager led South Melbourne into matches against Nakaksa, Vasco da Gama and Manchester United.
00:37The Australian team lost all three matches, setting the tone for how OFC club sides would fare against the world's
00:44best.
00:47Qualification for the Club World Cup has largely been earned by winning the OFC Champions League.
00:52This piece of silverware nearly always resides in New Zealand, and mostly in the trophy cabinet of Auckland City FC,
01:01who have won it a record 13 times.
01:06This has translated into the navy blues holding the record for the most visits to the Club World Cup, and
01:13appearing in the second most matches in the competition's history.
01:21Unsurprisingly, for a side that is only semi-professional, wins have been hard to come by.
01:28In 2009, they won twice, finishing in fifth place.
01:35Then, in 2014, they won once in normal time, and twice after penalty shootouts, to finish a Confederation best third.
01:44It's unbelievable, I mean, obviously the club, everyone in the club, I suppose, in New Zealand must be buzzing now,
01:50because, you know, when you look at the, we're going to get a bronze medal and a football championship team
01:56from New Zealand, that's unbelievable.
01:57Probably no one here or in Morocco ever expected that to happen, and it's happened.
02:06Auckland City's dominance has prevented many other clubs in the region from rubbing shoulders with the likes of Real Madrid
02:12and Boca Juniors.
02:14And when they have missed out, another team from New Zealand has often filled the void, be it Waitakere United
02:22or Team Wellington.
02:25There is a difference when you're talking about the, you know, professional players.
02:32You know, many of our, or all of our players, you know, they're not professional, they have other jobs, they
02:37have other lives.
02:40And, you know, but at the same time, including Justin here, who, you know, we've got a lot of players
02:46that, you know, have represented New Zealand, have been at FIFA competitions before.
02:52I touched on, you know, the O League campaign as well, playing in front of, you know, big crowds and
02:59very, very difficult conditions and environments.
03:02And those are all the experiences that we, that we draw on as a group.
03:08Team Wellington competed in 2018.
03:11The following year, the OFC spot went to just the second club from outside Australia or New Zealand.
03:19Heingiany Sport of New Caledonia.
03:22The first team to break the duopoly was Hekari United of Papua New Guinea in 2010.
03:30The third team, A.S. Pirey of Tahiti, appeared at the 2021 edition after Auckland City pulled out due to
03:39the COVID-19 pandemic.
03:43As the Club World Cup expands, teams from the OFC will now compete in a guaranteed three group matches every
03:51year.
03:51It will lead to some incongruous fixtures, as part-timers from remote specs in the Pacific Ocean go toe-to
03:59-toe with billionaires and icons.
04:02And it will guarantee visibility for the Oceania Football Confederation and its small band of hardy football nations.
04:11It will lead to an extraordinary welcome front of holidays and conflict in the US and pourtantal evening in the
04:13US,
04:13and give all the news between new Isleola and82 and his team.
04:13Things were not available whenever you think swampchi was running behind,
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