Auckland hoping to join tiny list of clubs to win a league in another country

[p]Few clubs compete in foreign domestic leagues ‌and fewer still go on to win them, though there are notable exceptions.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/monaco/2PIvr8o4/"]AS Monaco[/a] have claimed eight titles ‌in France's Ligue 1 while Northern Ireland's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/derry-city/MyD3Jn1A/"]Derry City[/a] have won the league ‌twice in the Republic of Ireland.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/auckland-fc/2J7jacL6/"]Auckland[/a] will look to emulate them in just their second A-League ‌season when they host the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/coventry/GOvB22xg/"]Sky Blues[/a] at a sold-out Mount Smart Stadium.[/p][p]Some home ‌fans may feel the Grand Final has come a year late given Auckland's fairytale debut season in 2024/25.[/p][p]The Black Knights won the Premier's Plate for finishing top of the table at the end of ‌the regular season but lost a semi-final playoff against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/melbourne-victory/Qql6CzOP/"]Melbourne ⁠Victory[/a].[/p][p]Having done the hard work with a 1-0 ‌win in Melbourne, Auckland crashed to a 2-0 defeat on home soil, leaving expectant supporters devastated.[/p][p]This time, there has only been a steely determination from the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/newcastle-jets/EaZ5xZo0/"]New Zealanders[/a], who beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/melbourne-city/OKfoGJBe/"]Melbourne City[/a] in a shootout to reach the semis and won ​3-0 at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/adelaide-utd/4AZ2ueHm/"]Adelaide United[/a] to seal a 4-1 aggregate victory for their place in the Grand Final.[/p][image alt="Auckland v Sydney H2H" id="b9269dfe-4bcd-4177-a50b-6aad3b120af0" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="b69fe4bd-78d6-49d2-9c92-c2aab1a71df6" original-width="1200" original-height="900" /][p]Coach Steve Corica, formerly a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sydney-fc/6JsBlXVI/"]Sydney FC[/a] favourite, said there was a resolve ⁠in his group to prove ​people wrong.[/p][p]"[b]We knew everyone wrote us off,[/b]" Corica said after the Adelaide win.[/p][p]"[b]That was motivation but we knew what we had in the change-room.[/b]"[/p][p]There may be mixed emotions for Corica as he plots the downfall of a team he coached to back-to-back championships in 2019-2020.[/p][p]As a ‌player, the former Australia midfielder scored the only goal in Sydney's 1-0 win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/central-coast/Wzp1wFWg/"]Central Coast Mariners[/a] in the inaugural 2006 A-League Grand Final.[/p][p]Corica will match wits with his nemesis Patrick Kisnorbo in the opposing dug-out, the coach whose Melbourne City team defied Sydney's bid for an unprecedented third successive title in 2021.[/p][embed guid="01ed421d-0f0b-499f-9ade-2b91a896db33" url="https://x.com/aleaguemen/status/2057023892905230579" social-type="twitter" /][p]Kisnorbo oversaw a 3-1 win over Corica's Sydney in the 2021 Grand Final but will now look to bring the league's most successful club a record-extending sixth championship.[/p][p]Possibly the least-liked Australian team among neutral fans, Sydney are renowned for playing villainous dream wreckers and burnished that reputation last Saturday by foiling ‌sentimental favourites Newcastle in a shootout win at the Jets' home ground.[/p][p]Although finishing a modest ​fifth on the table at the end of the regular season, Sydney are ‌unbeaten in their last seven games, including a 2-2 draw against Auckland in a thriller at Sydney Football Stadium a month ago.[/p][p]Sydney's left back Ben Garuccio is gunning for an A-League title at a third club, after winning back-to-back Grand Finals with Melbourne City (2021) and the now-defunct [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/western-united/j1EBZq33/"]Western United[/a] (2022).[/p][p]His 17-year-old teammate Akol Akon, a winger ⁠with South Sudanese heritage, will hope to ⁠become the league's youngest Grand Final ‌winner for a team peaking at exactly the right time.[/p][embed guid="ed40b136-d17c-45c8-b5d4-5fdf468ac69b" url="https://x.com/aleaguemen/status/2057297556686963192" social-type="twitter" /]