Three months ago Christian Gray was going about his business in a fairly understated manner. During the week, the physical education teacher and student had the regular travails of life to fulfil. On the weekend he got to release those as an amateur footballer for Auckland City FC.
That all changed in Nashville, the home of American country music, as the defender struck a middle eight that caught the attention of fans across the planet. Coming off the back of heavy defeats against Bayern Munich and Benfica, few gave the Navy Blues any hope in their final group outing at the FIFA Club World Cup™.
Either side of a Nathan Garrow own goal that handed Boca Juniors the lead and a lengthy weather delay, Gray though struck a blow that wrote his name in the record books and earned planet-wide plaudits.
When the 28-year-old rose to thump home a Jerson Lagos corner he became the first Auckland player to score at the new-look global showpiece and set his side up for a famous 1-1 draw that sent the Argentinian giants tumbling out of the tournament.
It was a moment that catapulted Gray into the global conscience but, as he told FIFA, things quickly returned to normal.
“How much did that goal change things? Definitely people were aware of it in New Zealand but the reaction overseas, in Argentina and South America especially….I’m maybe a bit of a bigger name than I realise and I definitely had a lot of new River Plate fans for sure,” Gray said.
“Even with that though I still had to, you know, go back to work. Maybe a few more people know about me now but I still have the normal stresses of life and university to deal with.”
What Gray also has though is another opportunity to ease those stresses as Auckland prepare for a second major tournament outing in less than half a year. That comes in the shape of the opening fixture at the FIFA Intercontinental Cup™ where they will fly the Oceania flag in the play-off match in the FIFA African-Asian-Pacific Cup.
Drawn as the away side for the one-off fixture, it means a long journey from the depths of a New Zealand winter to the heat of the Egyptian capital Cairo to face CAF Champions League victors Pyramids FC on 14 September.
The winner of that clash will then move to the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah for a clash with Al Ahli nine days later. As Gray explains from the team’s training base in the United Arab Emirates, that famous 1-1 draw with Boca has given the entire squad belief that they now firmly belong at this level.
“The Club World Cup showed us that we can compete with some of the best teams in the world. Of course, we know though that it’s going to be tough against a strong side but we really have that belief now that we can get results against these kind of teams.
“I think before the Boca game, if you told us that we’d get a draw out of that game it would have been hard to believe. But now we know it’s possible and in this situation with a one-off match it’s win or you’re out so we’re going to be doing all we can to keep this adventure going.”
Having warmed up with a narrow loss in the UAE against local outfit FC United, coached by Italian icon Andrea Pirlo, Gray feels the side is primed to impress against a Pyramids side that are sure to have a strong backing at their home 30 June Stadium.
“That was a good hit-out for us and obviously another amazing experience to see a legend of the game like Pirlo but I feel like we’re ready, even with the long travel and having to adjust to the weather,” Gray said.
“The club has a lot of experience now in these types of games so we know what to expect, but in matches like this we know that you’re not only playing the team but also the supporters as well, especially when playing in their backyard. This is where we want to be though, in these big tournaments and we’re going to be putting our best foot forward.”
That experience at the Club World Cup has not only given the whole club greater belief but it’s also turned the usually goal-shy defender Gray into something of an unexpectedly prolific finisher. As he explains it’s a role that he hopes he can keep going in Cairo, even if he notes he may need to work a bit on his post-goal celebrations.
“Since we returned to New Zealand I’ve scored another two goals in the league, one went in off my head, the other off the chest and it’s a habit that I want to keep going.
“That one against Boca was a bit surreal really because the morning of that game the boys were actually all talking about celebrations at breakfast. They were joking around with me for not having a celebration, which is fair enough as I didn’t really score that many.
“When the ball went in they all jumped on top of me so I wasn’t sure what to do. Maybe I’ll have to run to the corner flag or come up with something special in Cairo but I’ve still got a few days to figure that out!”
