We asked Auckland City FC’s Emiliano Tade about his team’s season and how they were feeling ahead of the Grand Final.  

What would winning the National League Championship mean to you and the team?

To us it's not our first attempt to become National League champions. In many ways, the occasion feels exactly the same for us as players as it has done in the past.

The travel is the same, the opponents are similar and the competitive level is similar to what it used to be in the last system. 

We played for 17 years in the NZFC, won eight grand finals and finished first in the league 12 times, so winning the National League Championship title for us would not be our first title. 

But, to be clear, every player wants to win grand finals, cups and league titles, it's a normal desire and so everyone is focused on achieving this objective. 

Does winning a treble make Auckland City FC favourites?

I don't think winning three other titles necessarily makes us the favourites. We won the Northern League and Wellington Olympic won the Central League, so there is parity of achievement there.

Olympic didn't compete in the OFC Champions League but we met in the Chatham Cup semi-final. That game was very tight and so was the first game in the National League Championship. 

Wellington Olympic are a very good team with a very good style of play and they're competitive in all their lines. I believe that for these reasons the game is very much a fifty-fifty situation. 

How do you plan to stop Wellington Olympic?

It's going to be a very good tussle and a very interesting tactical game as well as very physical and very mentally demanding. 

We have to match Wellington Olympic's energy levels just as much as they have to match ours and it's going to be one of those games where people are going to enjoy what they see from both teams.

I wish I could tell you what our plans are for stopping Wellington Olympic but I'm not allowed to! 

What is your most memorable game of the National League Championship?

The best game of the National League Championship so far from an Auckland City FC perspective must be our game with Birkenhead United.

That could've changed a lot for us, our position in the league table was under threat and losing that game could have really pushed Birkenhead United a long way forward in terms of reaching the Grand Final.

We were 2-0 down and a player down, so for me to come on and score the equaliser was special from a personal side but it has been, in a sense, also a turning point for us as a team.

It helped our team rediscover our character and personality in a game where everything was going against us and we emerged stronger from the experience. 


Watch the men’s National League Championship Grand Final between Auckland City FC and Wellington Olympic this Sunday (4 December) at 2pm at Mt Smart Stadium. 

Book tickets now from https://nzfootball.flicket.co.nz

Article added: Saturday 03 December 2022