The Argentine underdogs who succeeded where Boca failed | OneFootball

Boca Juniors’ group stage exit at the Club World Cup was perhaps not a major surprise, but it was sealed in embarrassing fashion.

Needing a win to keep their qualification hopes alive, the Argentinians were unable to beat part-timers Auckland City - the underdogs from New Zealand claiming a memorable 1-1 draw to send Boca packing.

However, the South Americans can console themselves with the fact that the Oceania champions were themselves humbled just prior to the mega-money tournament in the USA - by a team almost exclusively made up of Argentinians!

In fact, fifteen days ago, an Argentine “colony” on a small island in the Hauraki Gulf achieved what Boca couldn’t in the Club World Cup: they beat Auckland City.

Waiheke United, a club residing in New Zealand’s fourth division, visited Auckland on 14 June in the Chatham Cup - the country’s equivalent of a national cup competition. In the single-leg first round tie, Waiheke surprised Auckland with a 2-1 victory to knock out their hosts.

To add some necessary context, Waiheke were helped by the fact that Auckland handed debuts to 13 youth players given that their first string was preparing for the Club World Cup...but it was still a giant-killing of sorts.

Founded in 1987, Waiheke United began attracting Argentine immigrants who came to the country for work and wanted to play competitive football in their spare time.

In recent years, Waiheke have fully embraced their South American heritage and, remarkably, nine of the club's 11 starters against Auckland City were born in Argentina, with another player hailing from Uruguay.

We imagine Waiheke's legion of Argentinian players are dining out on the fact they succeeded where the mighty Boca failed!