Australia winning the Asian Cup was much more special than people realise
WE ARE officially the champions of Asia. But that’s not what made Australia’s victory against South Korea as special as it is.
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I AM a fan of football. Or soccer. Or whatever you want to call it. But by no means am I a die hard fan, or a football tragic. Even so, I could tell last night was special, that something amazing happened.
You knew before the game even started. Waiting for the train at Central station as the fans in Australian colours chanted, sang songs and embraced people they have never met before.
Despite how you feel about the sport, you have to admit that something is special if it can bring complete strangers together in a city full of people who like to keep to themselves.
It continued on the train, and as everyone got off. There were chants of “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!” coming through the Olympic Park train station speakers as every single punter chanted back.
“AUSSIES CAN TAKE ON THE WORLD”
As the national anthem played, every single person in that crowd sung it loud and proud. Never have I been to an Australian sporting game, of any code where every person sang. It was surreal, something I am sure every one of the 76,385 fans at the game will never forget.
The Korean fans were just as vocal during the game as the Aussies were, with chants that those around me joked sounded like either “Mal Meninga” or “Cahill’s a wanker”. We later found out they were saying “Republic of Korea”, which I guess makes more sense.
But despite their chants for a rugby league great, the spirit and noise just could not match that of Australia’s fans at the 45th minute when Massimo Luongo beautifully slotted the ball into the back of the net. It was pure jubilation.
Then at the 90th minute when Korea scored the equaliser, everyone felt the same heartbreak.
The next 14 minutes of extra time was spent by everyone on the edge of our seat.
When finally, the winning goal was scored. Hugs were shared by everyone, the deafening sound of the crowd screaming with joy and the ecstatic vibe is something I have never felt before.
Even after the game was done, the stadium was still completely full, as every Australian waited to be able to sing “We are the Champions” with our heroes below. And boy did we.
As I left, that spirit continued, with one random bloke even coming up and kissing me on the cheek and yelling to everyone how great the game was. Any other day of the week I would have seriously felt uncomfortable by that. But not tonight.
Last night was special, it’ll be one of those times in my life I will be proud to say, “I was there when”. Not just because of what our team achieved, but because it showed that despite everyone’s differences or the problems in their life, we can still forget all about that and be brought together as one.
Even today, there are Australian jerseys everywhere and the whole of Sydney is still buzzing and sharing a mutual connection. It’s pretty amazing what a simple game of football can do.
Originally published as Australia winning the Asian Cup was much more special than people realise
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