Cleaner goalkeeper who took leave to participate: The story of our young people who tied the Boca team is more precious than the prize money

On June 25, in the last round of Group C of the Club World Cup group stage, New Zealand team Auckland City drew 1-1 with South American powerhouse Boca Youth, creating a small miracle in this event. This semi-professional team not only won the first Club World Cup goal and points in the team's history, but also won a draw of $1 million. As the only non-professional team in the group, Auckland City lost 0-10 and 0-6 to Bayern Munich and Benfica in the first two games respectively. But in the last game, they showed amazing resilience. Throughout the game, the players used tireless running to make up for the technical gap and finally defended the precious draw.

The story of substitute goalkeeper Siganda best reflects the particularity of this team. This player who usually makes a living by cleaning the swimming pool and jacuzzi asked his boss for leave in order to participate in the competition. "I didn't have a salary during the game," Siganda said, "but now we finally get a reward."

Boca youth coach admitted that the players' fighting spirit was affected due to the interruption of the game by an hour due to the weather and the team has been confirmed to be eliminated. But this does not affect the Auckland City players' sense of accomplishment. From being predicted to lose by a large score before the game to finally tenaciously draw against the strong enemy, they proved their value with practical actions.

According to the competition regulations, the $1 million prize will be distributed jointly by the entire team. For these players who usually need to work part-time to make ends meet, the money is of great significance.

On this night, football returned to its purest appearance. The story of Auckland City tells us: Love and persistence are sometimes more important than talent.