Kiwi Clasico: Your guide to the first NZ A-League derby

By Will Toogood

To say the inaugural Auckland FC v Wellington Phoenix A-League Men’s derby has been highly anticipated would be like saying All Whites captain Chris Wood has an eye for goal.

There can be only one first derby and both sides will be keen to begin what will hopefully be a long and storied rivalry by drawing first blood on Saturday afternoon.

Why is it called the Kiwi Clasico?
It’s a play on the famous El Clasico played between Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona - another iteration is El Trafico between LA Galaxy and LA FC in the States - names like that tend to develop over time but it appears the whiteboard junkies in marketing couldn’t resist stamping this one before a ball had been kicked.

Where is the match? When is kickoff?
Te Whanganui a Tara Wellington has the honour of hosting the first Clasico at Sky Stadium aka The Cake Tin. Organisers are hoping for a crowd of more than 20,000 with about 15,000 tickets sold already so a few walk-ins are predicted. Kiwis are notoriously fair weather sports fans and you know what they say about Wellington on a good day.

The Auckland FC v Wellington Phoenix derby will kick off at the family friendly hour of 5pm on Saturday afternoon.

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, the Phoenix Women begin their season away to Western United at 9pm Friday NZT.

The A-League Men’s season has just started, how have the two teams gone so far?
Wellington Phoenix are coming off the back of their best ever season in 2023/24 and have picked up pretty much where they left off. Their first match against Western United saw them ahead 1-0 through Kosta Barbarouses until a 76th minute equaliser meant the points were shared.

Second up they faced Perth Glory away from home - goals either side of half time from Scott Wootton - as he nodded home a well delivered free kick - and Tim Payne - who also headed home a dangerous looped ball into the area - saw the Phoenix home and to the top of the table - briefly.

Auckland FC’s first match in their history had them hosting Brisbane Roar at a sold out Go Media Stadium. An early own goal set up by captain Hiroki Sakai settled a few nerves but the home crowd had to wait until the 74th minute for Logan Rogerson to coolly slot home a cross and seal the three points with a 2-0 win.

Second time out and there are few bigger tests in the A-League than Sydney FC.

Auckland spurned a couple of good chances in the first half and almost were made to pay for it as Sydney had a late go ahead goal ruled out for offside by VAR.

The Auckland faithful will be pleased with the resolve their side showed and they were rewarded for that faith with a bedlam-inducing 97th minute winner via a backheel nutmeg from defender Nando Pijnaker to steal the three points and send them to the top of the table outright.

What are the coaches saying?
Auckland FC coach Steve Corica: “We’ve been looking forward to this game since the draw came out. It’s obviously our first opportunity to play away from home as well so we’re looking forward to it. We’ve had a great start and we want to continue that.

“It’s another game but it is a derby game. It’s for the fans, they want that bragging rights and obviously but we want to continue our run. We want to control the game, we want to play good football as normal but it is going to be passionate we’ve got to make it that way - it is a derby game and what I’ve seen before in the derbies I’ve been involved in is both teams are very physical, it’s going to be a fast game which is what we expect from derbies.”

Wellington Phoenix coach Giancarlo Italiano: “I think like most derbies it’s more about the anticipation. Derbies are more about the fans and you know the home advantage, there’s always a big build up. I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve seen some big derbies in my time, the biggest one was in 2011 with Pep [Guardiola] and Jose [Mourinho] in the Super Clasico and Bernabéu - that was an experience but it was the whole lead up to it. The players feel it, the fans feel it - it’s an event.”

Who should I be watching?
Both sides are stacked with big names like Barbarouses, Payne and Japanese import Kazuki Nagasawa. The Herald will instead look to some up and coming Kiwi talent in the form of 18-year-old Nathan Walker (shirt number 41) who has just signed his first professional contract with the Phoenix after being thrust into the starting lineup last week. Walker is also a born, bred and trained Aucklander so securing him on a four-year deal is a big coup for the Nix.

Auckland FC too have an abundance of names to keep an eye on - their own Japanese star Hiroki Sakai has one of the best resumes of any player to grace these shores (he says the hardest player he’s faced is Brazilian megastar Neymar so that should provide a bit of context). Promoting Kiwi talent is the name of the game again so look for Liam Gillion (shirt number 14) on the left flank for Auckland.

How can I watch?
You can watch Auckland FC v Wellington Phoenix live on Sky Sport 2 from 4pm.

The Herald will also have live score updates as well as a match report to follow after the final whistle.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission