Early this morning in the farewell match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, Auckland City achieved a historic result. In the first half, they were continuously pressed and lost 0-1. At the beginning of the second half, this team boldly attacked and unexpectedly scored an equalizer 1-1 in the 52nd minute. Cristian Gray - a teacher - jumped high to receive a corner kick from a pass from Jerson Lagos, a barber, to head the ball into the net.
The goal was Auckland City's first taste of celebration at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and also lifted the spirits of the New Zealand team, who fought back to hold off Boca, the legendary club of Diego Maradona.
This is Auckland City's first point after 9 consecutive losses in the FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA Intercontinental Cup or FIFA Confed Cup before). For a team valued at just over 5 million USD, less than the Nam Dinh Blue Steel team or the Hanoi Police Club like Auckland City, this is historic.
More practically, it has even solved the problem of “bread and butter” for most members of the team. According to FIFA regulations, Auckland City will be awarded an additional $1 million for the draw with Boca. New Zealand media reported that Auckland City has agreed to divide this bonus among members of the board of directors, coaching staff and players.
The exact figure will not be disclosed, but on average, each player can receive 25-30 thousand US dollars. For professional players in Europe, of course, this amount of money is not much, but in the eyes of the Auckland City players, it can support them for a whole year. El Impacial wrote: “As a semi-professional team, Auckland City players have to find work elsewhere to support themselves and their families. Cristian Gray, who scored against Boca, is no exception. He is a teacher at a local high school. During the summer, students are off, which allows Gray to go to the US to compete.
The average salary for a teacher in New Zealand is NZ$40,000 a year (US$24,000). It could be said that Gray's header against Boca alone will be enough to live on for the whole year."
Watch FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ live and exclusively in Vietnam on FPT Play, with the support of Budweiser - Global Sponsor of the tournament and Samsung AI TV brand, visit http://fptplay.vn
Dang Lai
Source: https://tienphong.vn/thay-giao-kiem-duoc-1-nam-tien-luong-nho-ghi-ban-tai-fifa-club-world-cup-post1754473.tpo
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