Auckland City v. San Lorenzo, 17/12/14

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Plucky Auckland Pipped By San Lorenzo

by Jeremy Ruane

Auckland City took San Lorenzo to extra time in their FIFA Club World Cup semi-final at Le Grand Stade de Marrakech on 17 December before the South American champions prevailed 2-1 at the expense of their plucky Oceania equivalents.

The Kiwi team matched their Argentinian opponents stride for stride throughout much of the match, and after Sunday morning's third place play-off with Mexican champions Cruz Azul, will head for home having earned high praise from all-comers for their efforts. Rightly so, too.

It was San Lorenzo who settled quicker, via a couple of headed efforts inside the first ten minutes. Gonzalo Veron's tame one was easy pickings for Tamati Williams, who had reason to give his defenders a gentle reminder of their duties moments later as Mario Yepes was left unattended, and headed narrowly over the bar upon being picked out by Pablo Barrientos' free-kick.

But City were soon giving as good as they got, John Irving picking out Emiliano Tade with a pinpoint eleventh minute pass. The Argentinian wriggled his way through the challenges of his countrymen before battering a twenty yarder at Sebastian Torrico.

Seven minutes later, the Antipodeans threatened again. Ivan Vicelich and Tim Payne combined to release Ryan de Vries on the right, from where he cut inside before pulling a shot wide of the near post under pressure.

Williams was called into action twice soon after as San Lorenzo threatened, grabbing a Barrientos free-kick under the bar before blocking a Martin Cauteruccio drive at his near post after the striker had been played through the offside trap by Veron.

The game then entered a classic phase of thrust and parry, a sure sign that City coach Ramon Tribulietx had got his tactics spot-on once more, and his part-time charges were carrying them out to the letter against their professional counterparts.

Indeed, Auckland held the upper hand in the possession stakes as they knocked the ball around confidently, passing the sphere to the nearest white shirt whenever the opportunity availed itself, which was often.

Right on the stroke of half-time, however - it was literally the last kick of the half, San Lorenzo opened the scoring. Nestor Ortigoza made in-roads down the right before linking with Julio Buffarini, who steered the ball back to Barrientos.

The playmaker returned the ball to Buffarini, who by now had dashed round the outside of his team-mate, from where he played the ball inside to Veron. He rewarded the overlapping run of Emmanuel Mas which allowed the fullback to pull the ball back from the byline and pick out Barrientos.

His volley flashed by the unsighted figure of Williams and inside the far post to give San Lorenzo the advantage at the interval, one they threatened to double two minutes into the second half. Only Irving's timely tackle prevented Cauteruccio from capitalising on an opening engineered for him by Mas.

Auckland soon recovered their poise, and led by Tade - he had a terrific game - gradually redressed the balance, and were rewarded for their efforts by a 67th minute equaliser which they richly deserved.

Tade's nifty footwork looked to have unhinged San Lorenzo's defence initially, but the Argentinians stood firm on this occasion. Seconds later, however, they were undone in brilliant fashion.

Irving and Marko Dordevic combined to bring Tade into play once more, and his acute-angled through ball found de Vries dashing in behind the defence. He was taken out by Torrico, but the ball ran on for Angel Berlanga, who tucked it home from an obscure angle with all the panache of a striker on top of his game - a fine finish!

It was also a bitter-sweet moment for the Spaniard, as three minutes earlier he had become one of the eight players booked in the match by Australian referee Ben Williams, meaning that whatever the outcome of this encounter, Berlanga would be suspended for City's final fixture of the tournament.

It could be argued that the official should have sent off Torrico for his part in City's equaliser, as if Berlanga hadn't hit the target, referee Williams would surely have had to award a penalty instead, given de Vries had been taken out by San Lorenzo's last line of defence. The South Americans dodged a bullet on this occasion, make no mistake.

They were also stung by finding themselves on level terms with the part-timers who have captured the world's imagination with their efforts in this tournament. Cue a flurry of San Lorenzo opportunities, but each time, Auckland stood firm.

Buffarini sent a cross fizzing across the face of goal

twenty minutes from time, but no-one was up in support, while three minutes later Walter Kannemann directed a header at Williams after he had been picked out by a pinpoint free-kick from substitute Leandro Romagnoli.

In the 76th minute, both teams came desperately close to clinching victory. Yepes' diving headed clearance picked out Romagnoli, whose splendid first-time volleyed pass on the turn was neatly controlled by Cauteruccio.

The striker then flicked the ball to his right before lobbing it back over his head and unleashing an unstoppable twenty yard volley which left Williams clutching at air. Thankfully for City, the post intervened - it was a sure-fire goal of the tournament contender otherwise.

City cleared their lines from the rebound, and were swiftly on attack at the other end of the park, aided by a Kannemann blunder. De Vries took full advantage, setting sail for goal with just Torrico to beat and Tade in support on his left.

A pass into the stride of City's leading marksman duly arrived, but at the vital moment, with just the 'keeper to beat, Tade mis-controlled the ball and sliced it wildly past the post, much to Torrico's relief but to the despair of his City team-mates - this was surely the moment when they could have won the match.

So it was to prove, as San Lorenzo pressed for a winner of their own over the course of the next ten minutes. Williams was unable to gather a Buffarini cross intended for Cauteruccio in the 84th minute - Vicelich cleared the danger - while Payne headed over his own bar three minutes later, not that he knew much about it as Kannemann's header ricocheted off the midfielder as the defender met Romagnoli's corner.

In stoppage time, Tade's hopes to make amends for his earlier miss were thwarted by Kannemann's timely tackle, a denial which meant we were destined for a further thirty minutes to decide this contest.

In itself, that was some achievement for Auckland City, as this was the fourth successive match - after clashes with Uzbekistan, Moghreb Tetouan and ES Serif - in which they had been, at worst, level with professional opponents come the full-time whistle.

But they found themselves trailing for a second time in this contest just three minutes into extra time. Romagnoli's cross from the left picked out fellow substitute Mauro Matos, whose header down for Barrientos failed to reach the striker due to Irving's timely intervention yet again.

The defender could only direct the ball back to Matos, however, and he wasted little time in thrashing a first-time fifteen yarder through a defender's legs and past the despairing dive of Williams - 2-1 San Lorenzo.

The Argentinians had a great chance to seal the deal eight minutes later. Kannemann's ball forward was headed on by Matos for Cauteruccio, but his drive, with just Williams to beat, was superbly parried to safety by the 'keeper, who is poised to go very close in the contest for the tournament's Golden Glove award.

Just as City are where Fair Play honours are concerned. They still had hopes of meeting Real Madrid in the final, however, and seven minutes from the end of extra time came within the width of a post of levelling the scores for a second time.

Irving's free-kick from half-way was punched out by Torrico. His team-mates failed to clear the danger, allowing substitute Sam Burfoot to set up Payne for a twenty yard grass-cutter which cannoned to safety off the base of Torrico's right-hand upright.

It was a real let-off for San Lorenzo, who heeded the message and managed to stave off a tiring Auckland's remaining efforts to get back on level terms to ensure the formbook would prevail - this tournament is geared towards the champions of Europe and South America meeting in the final.

Auckland City, however, had come decidedly close to providing the footballing world with a real David and Goliath encounter in FIFA's final showpiece occasion for 2014. Instead, they will take on Mexico's Cruz Azul in Sunday's third place play-off from 5.30am NZ time in Marrakech, with the winner taking home an additional $US 500,000 as a fiscal reward for their efforts.

San Lorenzo: Torrico; Buffering (booked, 105), Yepes, Kannemann (booked, 40), Mas; Mercier (booked, 24), Kalinski (Matos, 77), Ortigoza (booked, 59) (Quignon, 109); Veron (Romagnoli, 68), Cauteruccio, Barrientos (booked, 79)

Auckland: Williams; Berlanga (booked, 64), Irving, Dordevic (booked, 8) (Issa, 96), Iwata; Payne, Vicelich, Bilen (booked, 60); de Vries, Tavano (Burfoot, 100), Tade (Browne, 90)

Referee: Ben Williams

Auckland City