LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION FOR AUCKLAND CITY

Tokyo, Japan
December 6, 2006

Auckland City got a taste of things to come at the FIFA Club World Cup within minutes of touching down in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Allan Jones’ side hadn’t even cleared customs before being caught on camera by a fascinated Japanese media corp keen to capture the arrival of the Kiwi amateurs ahead of Sunday’s tournament opener against African champions Al Ahly (Egypt).

More media were waiting in Narita airport’s arrival area with the home-coming of Auckland’s Japanese import Teruo Iwamoto understandably creating the most interest.

The 34-year-old, who scored two goals in nine appearances for Japan, is a household name in Japan after starring in a television series before linking with the NZFC and Oceania Champions for his short pre-Christmas stint.

Media interest in Auckland’s debut at FIFA’s season-ending club showpiece is expected to swell, particularly as their first game in Nagoya (Toyota City) where Iwamoto made a name for himself in the J-League playing for Nagoya Grampus Eight.

But Jones, who answered Auckland’s SOS by returning as caretaker coach following the 11th hour departure of Roger Wilkinson, insists he won’t allow all the hype to derail the Kiwitea St club’s already massive challenge in Japan.

“Their feet won’t come off the ground,” Jones told nzsoccer.com after watching Iwamoto being stopped by elderly woman and giggling teenagers for autographs. 

“Whilst they’re in a state of euphoria at the moment, they know what’s in front of them. This is the culmination of two, and in some cases three, hard years work so they’re not going to blow it at the last hurdle…particularly when they know the quality of teams in front of them.”

After travelling to Tokyo on two different flights on Wednesday, Auckland were to transfer to Nagoya on Thursday by Bullet Train.

Jones had scheduled an early evening training session before his side are due to sit down to a post-dinner DVD of five-times African champions Al Ahly. There will be a further session on Friday before a light training run on Toyota Stadium – which is expected to be sold out – on Saturday.

The national women’s coach, who has agreed to take Auckland through to Christmas including their December 20 NZFC derby against Waitakere United, is expected to name his starting XI late on Saturday (NZT).

Jones said Iwamoto, who picked up a thigh injury last weekend, would be “treated like everyone else” when it came to his lineup for Al Ahly despite his obvious PR pulling-power in Japan.

“It’s very much related to the opposition. You’ll find some very good players on the bench because it’s a question of how you use them,” Jones said.

“When you’re playing Otago it’s almost the same as playing Wellington or Manawatu. But this is international football…here you’re playing different cultures, formations and ways of approaching the game so you’ve got to be able to adapt to that.”

www.nzsoccer.com is in Japan to provide full coverage of Auckland’s FIFA Club World Cup campaign.

Sky Sport are also televising Sunday’s match live from 11pm (NZT, Sky Sport 1) with a full replay at 10pm on Monday.