World Cup Woe! Auckland City Equaliser Against Boca Juniors Costs Punters Millions

Football Against Flag of New Zealand

A barber and a PE teacher combined to score a goal that would cost punters millions at the Club World Cup on Tuesday.

Auckland City and their ragtag band of part-time players were only meant to be making up the numbers at the summer showpiece having won the Oceania section of qualifying – their 0-10 hammering by Bayern Munich in their first game evidence of the gulf in class.

But every outcome in a game of football is possible, no matter how unlikely, and the Kiwis’ 1-1 draw with Boca Juniors in their final group game was a shock for the ages.

So much so that the Argentines’ failure to win cost punters millions… including £640,000 to those that had backed Boca at prices of 1.03 or below on the exchange.

Singing the Blues in Nashville

Geodis Park in Nashville

Auckland City v Boca Junior was played at Geodis Park in Nashville. Credit: CheckeredYeti, Wikimedia Commons

Prior to the kick off in Nashville, Boca Juniors were priced at 1/40 to win the Group C clash, with Auckland a cool 125/1 and the draw was available at 70/1.

As mentioned, the Kiwis were blown aside in their Club World Cup opener against Bayern, losing 0-10 in a contest in which the German champions fired in 17 shots on target, won ten corners and had 88 touches inside their opponents’ box.

And things only marginally improved for the New Zealanders next time out against Benfica, as they were trounced 0-6 in a contest in which the Portuguese side mustered 32 shots at the Auckland goal – 16 of them on target.

So expectations were rather low – as confirmed by the betting odds, when Auckland took on Boca Juniors in Nashville. And another bloodbath appeared likely as the Argentines dominated the early exchanges.

To the Kiwis’ credit, they did prevent Boca from creating many gilt-edged chances early on, and they were actually unlucky to go a goal down in the 26th minute – Lautaro Di Lollo’s header hit the post, before the ball rolled across the goal line and then struck Auckland goalkeeper Nathan Garrow before ricocheting into the net.

Boca continued to dominate in a game in which they would take an extraordinary 41 shots at the Auckland goal; as well as having 74% possession, winning 20 corners and hitting the woodwork three times.

But the second goal just wouldn’t go in for the Argentines, and the longer games of football remain 1-0, the better the chance the underdog has of nicking an equaliser.

Even so, there were plenty rubbing their eyes when Jerson Lagos – a hairdresser back in his native New Zealand – curled in a corner from which Christian Gray, a trainee PE teacher, rose highest to head home.

There was an extraordinary reaction inside the GEODIS Park stadium, with neutrals unable to comprehend what they were witnessing – pandemonium ensued, led by Auckland’s small but mighty band of travelling supporters.

Unsurprisingly, they found themselves on the back foot for the rest of the second half, but by hook or by crook Auckland City hung on to close out a remarkable 1-1 draw.

It was a devastating blow for punters, with millions wagered on the ‘Boca banker’ as part of accas, or handicap style wagers.

And spare a thought for Betfair Exchange punters, who had backed Boca all the way down to 1.01 when the Argentines went a goal ahead. For context, at that price individuals are staking £100 to win £1 – typically, they would wager thousands to make the return worthwhile.

You could imagine there was some sore heads amongst the celebrating Auckland City FC faithful… and a few amongst punters backing their demise, too.

The 1.01 Club

With an implied probability of 99%, it won’t come as a shock to learn that 1.01 chances don’t often lose.

But when they do, it can be a costly exercise for those taking on the layers at such miniscule prices.

Harry’s Hope turned out to be an unfortunate name for a horse running at Hereford back in November. She hit 1.01 in-running after bursting clear of the field and successfully jumping the last, but then appeared to be wading in treacle as she painfully edged towards the line.

Face D’Music, meanwhile, had plenty left in the tank under a measured ride from Shane Quinlan, and he was able to get to the tape in first place – condemning punters that had backed the 1.01 dead cert to a costly defeat.

A more famous example came back at the St Jude Classic back in 2011, where Robert Garrigus held a three-shot lead going into the final hole.

But he managed to dump his tee shot into the water, made a mess of his penalty stroke and ultimately signed for triple bogey – condemning himself to a play-off against Lee Westwood and Robert Karlsson.

Garrigus then hit his tee shot behind a tree on the first extra hole, so he was knocked out of the play-off… joining the ranks of the famous 1.01 losers.