From Boxscore

Auckland City FC eye OFC President’s Cup opportunity

OFC: October 5, 2014 – Auckland City FC coach Ramon Tribulietx says the inaugural OFC President’s Cup offers his team a rare opportunity ahead of their FIFA Club World Cup campaign in Morocco in December.

The Oceania title winners meet Morocco champions Moghreb Tétouan in Rabat on December 10 in the FIFA Club World Cup playoff and Tribulietx believes the OFC President’s Cup scheduled for November can give his team a boost.

“The OFC President’s Cup gives us three very good games against different styles of play which will enrich our experience ahead of the Club World Cup. It is a good plus for us.

“But we will have to play a lot of games in a short period of time, and not long before the Club World Cup, so that’s a situation we will need to manage smartly and make good use of our whole squad,” he says.

The six team tournament will split into two groups of three with the winner of each section advancing to the final on Sunday 23 November at Trusts Arena.

Busaiteen of Bahrain, Bodden Town of the Cayman Islands, Singapore U-23, Fiji U-20 and Amicale make up the field alongside Tribulietx’s Aucklanders.

“The President’s Cup will help us gain experience at readjusting to different type of opposition. That’s something we’ll have to do in Morocco. The level of the clubs participating in this new competition suggest it will be a good technical and tactical experience for our team.

“We don’t have many opportunities to play against teams from the other side of the world. There’s always differences on how the game is played, technically and tactically. The game in Asia is generally very fast and in Central and South America the game is very technical,” he says.

Tribulietx says his OFC President’s Cup opponents, while an unknown quantity, are worthy of respect.

“Two of the clubs are leading names in their own domestic leagues so we will have to get some footage of them shortly to ensure we are well prepared.

“Busaiteen have a very good mixture of players from Africa and Brazil, also some players from other Middle Eastern countries as well as nationals from Bahrain. The game on that side of the world is very technical, with skilful players and they will definitely be a very good opponent.

“Bodden Town are the current champions of the Cayman Islands, made up mainly of Cayman nationals, and they have some experience from playing internationally in the Caribbean region, so they will be another good experience for us,” he says.

The Catalan-born coach says there are qualities in the rest of the field to be wary of.

“Singapore U-23 will be competitive. The game in the Asian Football Confederation is very fast but again with a different style of football.

“We know Amicale but we’re aware they’ve made some changes from last season. They have dangerous players who are very fast, very skilful on the ball and they can be unpredictable which makes them difficult to contend with,” he says, “I watched a couple of Fiji U-20 during the qualifiers and I’m sure coaches Ravinesh Kumar and Frank Farina will make sure Fiji are tactically very strong.”

The OFC President’s Cup takes place 17-23 November at Trusts Arena in Henderson.

IMAGE: Auckland coach Ramon Tribulietx / Image OFC via Phototek

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