Christian Gray celebrates after scoring for Auckland City.Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Auckland City scorer Christian Gray is training to be a teacher back in New Zealand

New Zealand amateurs Auckland City held Boca Juniors to a 1-1 draw in the Club World Cup.

Christian Gray scored Auckland's only goal of the competition in the second half to earn his side a memorable result in Nashville.

Auckland held their own for 25 minutes but were undone in unfortunate circumstances when Lautaro di Lollo's header struck the post before hitting goalkeeper Nathan Garrow and creeping over the line.

Despite spending most of the game on the back foot, Auckland got their Club World Cup moment early in the second half when Gray headed a corner beyond Boca keeper Agustin Marchesin.

Shortly after Gray's equaliser, the game was suspended for about 40 minutes because of adverse weather in the area.

Boca dominated after play resumed but could not find a winner as Auckland held on for a historic draw.

"I'm from a small town, a long way from here and a lot different to this environment. So it is somewhat of a dream," said Grey, 28.

What were the main talking points?

Auckland City are no strangers to upsetting professional sides in this competition having reached the semi-finals in 2014, however Tuesday's draw against Boca was their first positive result in the Club World Cup since then.

After conceding 16 goals in their opening two games, nobody gave them a chance going into the final group game against Boca but the amateurs defied all odds.

It is looking like a good use of annual leave after all for the Auckland players and staff.

Which players stood out?

The entire Auckland City squad deserve a nod for their efforts in this match and their entire Club World Cup campaign.

With each game they played they were asked to defend for near 90 minutes but never stopped trying.

They got the reward their efforts deserved when Gray headed home from Jerson Lagos' corner to give them a moment they will never forget.

The standout stats

Boca had 40 shots over the course of 90 minutes while Auckland mustered just three.

The stat that mattered though, saw both sides only have a one in the goals column.

What's next for these teams?

Both Boca Juniors and Auckland City have been eliminated from the Club World Cup, with Benfica and Bayern Munich progressing from Group C.

Player of the match

Number: 17 J. Lagos
Average rating 9.76
Number: 17 J. Lagos
Average Rating: 9.76
Number: 4 C. Gray
Average Rating: 9.75
Number: 24 N. Garrow
Average Rating: 9.75
Number: 7 M. Bevan
Average Rating: 9.72
Number: 26 D. Yoo
Average Rating: 9.70
Number: 5 N. Boxall
Average Rating: 9.68
Number: 10 D. Manickum
Average Rating: 9.68
Number: 2 M. Ilich
Average Rating: 9.67
Number: 8 Gerard Garriga
Average Rating: 9.67
Number: 27 H. Zeb
Average Rating: 9.66
Number: 12 R. Murati
Average Rating: 9.66
Number: 19 D. Connolly
Average Rating: 9.64
Number: 20 M. Ellis
Average Rating: 9.64
Number: 3 A. Mitchell
Average Rating: 9.64
Number: 14 J. Vale
Average Rating: 9.57
Number: 16 J. Lee
Average Rating: 9.50

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.

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