Players from Auckland City Football Club arrived at Auckland Airport to a heroes welcome yesterday afternoon, following their third place win at the Fifa Club World Cup.
More than 50 fans and family members of the club erupted into a cheer as the team walked out of the double doors from security into the airport's foyer.
Wearing their team shirts and freshly won bronze medals hanging from their necks, the team members were greeted with hugs from family members and the club's president Ivan Vuksich.
"I think the team did fantastically to have got where they've got - it's just unbelievable," Vuksich said.
The ASB Premiership club made history on Sunday as they beat North American champions Cruz Azul of Mexico on penalties to claim third place at Fifa's biggest club tournament.
They had previously lost the semi-final against South American champions San Lorenzo 2-1 in extra time, having held them to 1-1 in normal time.
There was also an individual honour for City captain Ivan Vicelich, who was awarded the Adidas Bronze Trophy for being third-best player at the tournament.
Vicelich described the welcome as "unbelievable".
"It's been a long two days but it's great to be back home and seeing all the fans that have supported Auckland City."
He said their third place win was tough to get, but very special.
"We competed very well and we got a great reward for our win."
Winning the 'bronze ball' for the third best player on top of the team's win was surreal, Vicelich said.
"[I'm] a bit speechless - it was great to be standing up there with some superstars, but the only reason that I've got it is because the team's done well, every player had to play good in every game and we had to make changes, the guys who came in played well, the staff worked really hard, the club's worked really hard.
"For us to come up against South American champs and play so well…traditionally the national team's played against South America in opposition and struggled, and I've been involved in a lot of those games, but we've actually competed toe to toe with them and we were unlucky not to come away with the victory in that game."
Vicelich said he was looking forward to spending Christmas with his family at home, "it's a lot better than FaceTime or Skype".
It was earlier thought that the team may have to spend up to $50,000 of their winnings on flights to get them home for Christmas.
The team were initially booked to leave Morocco the day after their first match against Moghreb Tetouan on December 11. They won on penalties, then three days later caused another shock by beating African champions ES Setif to progress to the semifinal. That victory extended their stay in Morocco by almost a week.
Fifa covers the costs of all competing teams' travel to the Club World Cup - but only to a point. It asks them for quotes, verifies the amounts and then deposits the money into a bank account.
That is where its involvement stops, and costs associated with travel on dates other than the one specified are the clubs' responsibility.
"Emirates have really come to the party," Vuksich said. "They've managed to fit us in on about five or six different flights."
"The cost has been well mitigated, probably down to less than $10,000."
Vuksich said he was incredibly proud of the team's successes. "I've run out of superlatives to be honest. It's just put us on another planet."
"They're a wonderful bunch of boys, they're well-led, they've got a great staff and management team with them - we're very fortunate, a lot of good things have come together."
- By Brendan Manning of NZME
