Vicelich will lead a motivated line-up out against the Algerian side at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, where a win for either team would see them book a semi-final with South American champions San Lorenzo of Argentina in Marrakech in four days time.
Bookmakers may have the Navy Blues at long odds to beat the two-time CAF Champions League winners but Vicelich says Auckland City FC have been in a similar situation in the past.
“Obviously, ES Setif in a quarter final of a FIFA Club World Cup would be a big game for any footballer. I’ve told our players that the next game is always your biggest whatever the competition is.
“We’re here to hopefully put on another big performance again. We’re proud of what we’ve done so far but we’re eager to do more.
“In 2009 we did the same and I can say the dressing room on Wednesday was as happy now as it was then. But we’re back down to earth and we’re focused on the next game,” Vicelich said after the team’s official training in Rabat.
Vicelich also welcomed the suggestions by local media that Moroccan fans may support Auckland City FC due to their sporting rivalry with Algeria.
“It would be great if we could get support from the Moroccan people. There is rivalry between the two countries so we may be able to expect support locally but we as players have to get on with the game.
“It was great to play in front of 35,000 Moroccan supporters on Wednesday night and many of them stayed behind after the final whistle to applaud us off the pitch which left a good impression with our team.
“We’ve had a great time in Morocco and the people have been absolutely brilliant for us. If we can get their support that would be a nice bonus,” he said.
Auckland City FC coach Ramon Tribulietx was typically cagey about how he would deploy his resources just two days after his team made footballing history in Rabat.
“We are the underdogs once again and coming into the game without any pressure we’ll try to enjoy it. Life will tell what will happen but we will be up for it, that’s for sure,” he said.
“This is a FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final so we know its going to be tougher. ES Setif is the best team in Africa and they just won their Champions League a month ago so they’re going to be better than Moghreb Tetouan in some respects.
“We have done a lot of work and we see a few things in there we might exploit. Its hard to tell if they are going to play the same way or not. To me they come across as a very skilful side, very fast and they have the top goalscorer in the Champions League.
“They are very good players on the ball so its going to be difficult for us. They can do the unexpected and it can be difficult to readjust to that but we’ve done our job and transmitted that to the players. We will see what happens.”
ES Setif sit fifth in Algeria’s Ligue 1 with five wins from 13 matches. They’ve won Ligue 1 six times – the same number as the Navy Blues have won the OFC Champions League – and they’ve won the Algerian Cup eight times.
They’ve also lost just one of their last five matches in all competitions. The dangerman for the Navy Blues is likely to be Algerian international midfielder and CAF Champions League golden boot winner El Hedi Belameiri.
The match starts at 4pm local time (5am Sunday NZST). The loser of Auckland City FC’s match with ES Setif faces the loser of Western Sydney Wanderers showdown with CONCACAF champions Cruz Azul who are in action at the same venue three and a half hours later in a double header in Rabat.
MATCH DETAILS
FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2014
Saturday 13 December/Sunday 14 December
ES Setif (ALG) v Auckland City FC (NZL)
Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat, Morocco
Kick-off: 4pm local/5am NZST
ESS: 1- Sofiane KHEDAIRIA (GK), 3- Sofiane YOUNES, 4- Said ARROUSSI, 6- Amine MEGATELI, 8- Ahmed GASMI (GK), 9- Mohamed BENYETTOU, 10- Akram DJAHNIT, 13- Sid LAMRI, 15- Abdelghani DEMMOU, 16- Mohamed RAIT, 17- Benjamin ZE ONDO, 18- Lyes BOUKRIA, 19- Abdelmalik ZIAYA, 20- Farid MELLOULI, 21- Issam BAOUZ, 22- Omar SAADOUNE, 23- Zahir NEMDIL, 24- Abderraouf BELHANI (GK), 25- El Hedi BELAMEIRI, 26- Mohamed LAGRAA, 29- Toufik ZERARA, 30- Eudes DAGOULOU, 91- Illyes KORBIAA.
COACH: Kheireddine MADOUI (ALG)
AKL: 1- Tamati WILLIAMS (GK), 2- Simon ARMS, 3- Takuya IWATA, 4- Mario BILEN, 5- Angel BERLANGA, 6- John IRVING, 7- James PRITCHETT, 8- Tim PAYNE, 9- Darren WHITE, 10- Ryan de VRIES, 11- Cam LINDSAY, 13- Joao MOREIRA, 14- Sanni ISSA, 15- Ivan VICELICH, 16- Daewook KIM, 17- Marko DORDEVIC, 18- Louis CAUNTER (GK), 19- David BROWNE, 20- Emiliano TADE, 22- Andrew MILNE, 23- Sam BURFOOT, 24- Jacob SPOONLEY (GK), 25- Fabrizio TAVANO.
COACH: Ramon TRIBULIETX
BROADCAST DETAILS
SKY SPORTS 3
SUNDAY 14 DECEMBER
LIVE
5am NZST

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