Vicelich was speaking at Pacific Harbour Primary School in Deuba, Fiji, where Auckland City FC signed autographs and ran a coaching clinic for local children.
The former All Whites midfielder was in recovery mode after Tuesday night’s 3-0 win over Western United.
“Today’s great we’re out here at a local Fijian school with some kids playing football.
“It’s a game we all love, it’s the Beautiful Game, it’s an ideal way to relax,” he said.
“It’s good to get a bit of a recovery day under our belts it was a tough game.
“I thought the guys did really well and fought right to the end and got a good result,” he said.
Several clubs have signed foreign talent with group rivals Amicale and Western United bringing in players from Italy, Switzerland, France and Scotland to bolster their ranks.
“Every game has been tough for every team at this competition and Amicale had a tough game last night. It’s important we recover well and not look too far ahead.
All the matches have been closely contested and there is a clear closing of the gap between the front-runners and chasing pack.
“It’s great for Oceania football. If you look at Lupe Ole Soaga the team from Samoa they’ve put in some very good performances which is great for the sport and shows its growing.
“There’s been an influx of foreign players to clubs before the OFC Champions League started but it’s definitely picked up the standard and shows the pulling power this tournament has,” Vicelich said.
With two wins from two for both Auckland City FC and Amicale, it leaves the pair facing a play-off style final group match to determine which of the duo tops the group and snares the automatic sem-ifinal spot.
Last season Amicale beat Auckland 1-0 and the Navy Blues were forced to hang on and hope that a result in another group went their way before they could plan for a semi-final.
This season, like last, a draw may be enough to see both qualify for the last four with defeat throwing the loser into a lottery alongside the two runners up from the other groups, the best of the three snatching the last semi-final spot.
Ironically, because of the nature of the draw, Auckland City FC could face Amicale again in general semi-finals.
With so many permutations in the mix, Vicelich prefers a simpler approach rather than getting caught up in too much detail – win.
“For us we need to focus on our next game with Amicale and it’s going to be very tough they’ve had two good results as well and we’re both vying for top position in the table.
“There’s a lot at stake but we’re really happy with the preparation we’ve done and the way the games have been played by us. Fingers crossed we can get another good result.
“We know we’ve got to go out and there and win the game. We know we could end up playing Amicale two times in a row but we’ve just got to focus on ourselves and try and get the win,” he said.
Story courtesy of Auckland City FC.
For more on Auckland City FC visit www.aucklandcityfc.com.

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