Australian Kangaroos winger Josh Mansour shocked by angry Lebanese crowd
FORGET the hostility of Suncorp Stadium during an Origin match, Saturday’s match against Lebanon was the worst tongue-lashing of Josh Mansour’s career.
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FORGET the hostility of Suncorp Stadium during an Origin match or playing for Australia in England, it was in front of his home crowd at Allianz Stadium where Kangaroos winger Josh Mansour received the greatest tongue-lashing of his career.
Mansour was stunned by the level of anger towards him from the Lebanese faithful when he took to the field for Australia on Saturday night.
Not that their passion is foreign to him because Mansour is proud of his Lebanese heritage. But his decision to play for the Kangaroos was met with unprecedented hostility.
They booed him every time he touched the ball, which he has never experienced before.
“Going into the game, I didn’t think it would be that bad,” Mansour said. “I knew I was going to get heckled here and there but the crowd were absolutely relentless.
“My whole career I’ve never copped anything like that. It was just ruthless. Every time I touched the ball the whole stadium shook.”
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It is not a bad effort from Cedars fans considering Mansour has played in the most confronting of arenas — a sold-out Origin match in Brisbane.
But the largely Lebanese crowd of 21,127 made Mansour aware of their thoughts.
The crowd rose as one when Mansour dropped the ball as he looked destined to cross the line.
“I had to have a chuckle to myself,” he said. “It was pretty funny. There wasn’t any sledging from the opposition players. They didn’t need to — they had the whole crowd sledging me.
“I’m proud of my heritage but I pledged my allegiance to Australia. I thought I could redeem myself from last year’s tour. It was a chance at redemption.”
Despite forcing his way back into the Kangaroos set-up after his Four-Nations campaign ended with a ruptured anterior cruciate, Mansour is still far from content.
“I’m not satisfied at the moment,” he said.
“I feel like there is more to achieve.”