AUCKLAND – Waitakere United will battle Iranian club side Sepahan in a FIFA World Club Cup playoff on December 7, after the Asian Champions League title was decided in the early
hours of Thursday morning.
Reigning Japanese league champions Urawa Red Diamonds defeated Sepahan 3-1 on aggregate in the final of the Asian Champions League to claim Asia’s berth
in the FIFA World Club Cup, leaving Sepahan to assume the playoff place that was reserved for this year’s J-League champions should a non-Japanese side have won the Asian title.
Taking a break from their New Zealand Football Championship campaign, Waitakere United will play Sepahan on December 7 in Tokyo with the winner facing
Urawa in the quarterfinal three days later. The winner of that match progresses to a glamour semi-final match-up with European Champions AC Milan.
Sepahan’s Croatian coach Luka Bonacic provides the kiwi connection with Waitakere’s playoff opponents. His two year stint as player/coach of Auckland’s Central AFC (now Central
United) in the Northern League in the late 1980s providing the transition from professional player – Bonacic played professionally in the top leagues of Croatia, Germany, Switzerland and Spain – to
professional coach.
