Boca Juniors were held to a surprise 1-1 draw by amateurs Auckland City and failed to reach the knockout stage of the Club World Cup on Tuesday in steamy Nashville, Tennessee, where the match was suspended for nearly 50 minutes due to stormy weather.
Boca came into the game needing both a convincing win against already-eliminated Auckland City to overturn a seven-goal difference with Benfica and for the Portuguese club to lose to German champions Bayern Munich in the other Group C fixture.
Auckland City had just drawn level shortly after the break when lightning in the area forced players off the field. By the time play resumed, Benfica had secured a 1-0 win to qualify top of Group C and reach the last 16 along with Bayern.
Boca went ahead in the 26th minute when Lautaro Di Lollo received a well-delivered corner and headed it against the post before the ball bounced off Auckland City goalkeeper Nathan Garrow’s arm and into the net for an own goal.
Auckland scored their first goal of the tournament in the 52nd minute when Christian Gray, a trainee teacher back home in New Zealand, sent a header inside the right post and past an outstretched Agustin Marchesin moments before play was suspended.
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Boca thought they had pulled back in front shortly after the restart but a VAR decision overturned Miguel Merentiel’s goal due to a handball by teammate Kevin Zenon.
Boca finished third in the group with two points, one more than Auckland City who also exited the Club World Cup.
But a draw against the South American giants provoked ecstatic celebrations from Auckland’s players, many of whom had to take leave from their full-time jobs in order to make the trip to the United States.
The 13-time OFC Champions League winners are the only amateur team at the Club World Cup and lost their previous group matches 10-0 to Bayern Munich and 6-0 to Benfica.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino was among those at the game where temperatures at kickoff were around 96 degrees Fahrenheit (35.5 degrees Celsius).
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
