Auckland City have ramped up preparations for the upcoming Fifa Club World Cup in the UAE, with new signing Kris Bright relishing the opportunity to compete on the global stage.
The New Zealand side, who are semi-professional, are one of four teams already confirmed for the December event, which will be played in the Emirates for the third time and first since 2010. Defending champions Real Madrid headline the tournament.
Auckland, the Oceania champions, are no strangers to the Club World Cup having appeared eight times already. They could face Madrid in the semi-finals this year, although they would first need to get past host representatives Al Jazira on December 6 and then the winners of next month's Asian Champions League final.
Auckland kick off the tournament against UAE champions Jazira at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain. Their best performance was a third-placed finish in 2014 when they lost in extra time in the last four to Copa Libertadores champions San Lorenzo.
“Going to the Club World Cup is really something to tick off the list,” Bright told Fifa.com. “It being on the world stage, being a Fifa tournament, and playing against some of the best players in the world.
“We are training and being paid as professionals in the lead-up to the tournament. We are training more than I did at some clubs in Europe. The pull of the Club World Cup was a big lure for me, for sure.”
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Auckland represents the latest stop on what has been a nomadic career for Bright. The striker, capped five times by the New Zealand national team, joined last month having previously played for 15 clubs, spanning 11 countries and four continents.
His previous employers include England’s Lincoln City and Shrewsbury Town, South Africa’s Bidvest Wits Football Club and India’s Bharat FC. Bright signed for Auckland on a free transfer from Northern Ireland’s Linfield after injury restricted him to six appearances for the Belfast club.
“The highs were high, but the lows were very low,” said Bright, 31, of his itinerant career. "I could have given up, but I was driven to keep playing. Sometimes it was great, and very exciting.
"Everyone thinks it is kind of glamorous, but it is tough as well. Making good friends and losing them again is tough. The problems aren’t really on the field, more so off it."
