Club World Cup’s only Chinese player tells how Auckland salvaged pride
Zhou Tong and teammates finish on high against Boca after ‘disgrace’ of the New Zealand amateurs’ 10-0 beating by Bayern
Zhou Tong, the only Chinese player at the Club World Cup, saw his Auckland City side end their tournament on an upbeat note on Tuesday as they held Argentine giants Boca Juniors to a surprise draw.
The minnows from New Zealand had been trounced in their previous games in the United States. They were on the wrong end of an embarrassing mismatch when the event got under way last week, receiving a 10-0 drubbing by Bayern Munich. They then suffered a 6-0 reverse to Benfica.
Veteran winger Zhou said that, even as amateur players, such scorelines amounted to “a disgrace”, and had spurred City on to salvage some pride.
And they did just that in Nashville as a 1-1 draw with Boca gave Auckland something to savour in their final group game, which Zhou sat out after being substituted under concussion protocols during the Benfica clash.
“Although challenging the mighty is an honour, a 10-0 scoreline is a disgrace for any footballer,” the 35-year-old told mainland Chinese media before the match. “Privately, we discussed how we could do better, how to give our all against these giants.”
His side went 1-0 down to Boca when goalkeeper Nathan Garrow palmed a first-half Lautaro Di Lollo header into his own net. But Christian Gray replied with a header of his own in the second period to claim Auckland a point that had looked unlikely after Bayern had exposed their shortcomings.