‘Football is about love’: Why Bulls striker taunted Sydney United 58 fans with celebration

Macarthur FC forward Al Hassan Toure has revealed the motivation behind his goal celebration in the Australia Cup final and admonished the Sydney United 58 fans caught performing Nazi gestures for acting against the true spirit of football.

Toure, who burst onto the scene with a man-of-the-match performance for Adelaide United in their 2019 cup final win, scored the opening goal from the penalty spot for the Bulls in their 2-0 victory on Saturday night in front of a raucous crowd of more than 16,000 people – the vast majority of whom came to support the Croatian-backed ex-National Soccer League giants, and savaged Macarthur players throughout.

Al Hassan Toure celebrated Macarthur FC’s opening goal right in front of Sydney United 58’s supporters.Credit: Getty

Captain Ulises Davila won the spot kick that gave Macarthur the lead in the 32nd minute, but Toure made a beeline for the ball as soon as it was awarded and convinced both his skipper and teammate Daniel Arzani to let him take it.

Once he scored it, the 22-year-old then ran straight in front of the thousands of United fans gathered at the northern end of CommBank Stadium and put his hands around his ears. They responded with heavy jeers and by throwing projectiles at him from the crowd.

“I was dodging beers. That’s what happens. They didn’t hit me luckily,” Toure laughed.

“It was more to do with, like, ‘I can’t hear you. You don’t matter to me’. The only thing that matters is me and my team winning – it was just to show them that whatever they did, it did not affect me, and clearly it didn’t because I scored the penalty.

Teammates mob Al Hassan Toure after his penalty.Credit: Getty

“I was focused on scoring and that’s what I did. I didn’t really pay attention to them. In football, you do get fans like that, it happens all over the world. You have to deal with situations like that because the best players in the world go through that.”

Toure, like many at the ground, was unaware at the time of the images captured of at least two United fans in the crowd who were performing Nazi salutes – or the ultranationalist symbols on some of the banners they held, or the meaning of the ‘Za Dom – spremni!’ chant (meaning ‘For homeland – ready!’) which thousands participated in on the night. The chant is closely associated with the far-right Croatian Ustashe movement, which massacred more than 300,000 Serbians, Jews and Romani people during World War II, but whose leaders are revered as liberators by parts of the Croat diaspora.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has called for lifetime bans from attending matches for those responsible, while Football Australia and NSW Police are conducting an investigation and combing through footage to identify the culprits. Sydney United 58 is assisting them, and released a statement late on Sunday condemning the behaviour, which they said did not reflect the views of the club or its wider fanbase and only involved a handful of supporters.

Toure also clarified that he was unaware of any racist language or hate speech directed towards him or his teammates before or during the match, and only learned of the controversy surrounding United’s fans afterwards through social media.

“I just saw the things online, but I didn’t see anything during the game,” he said. “It’s not what football is about. Football is about love. Football brings everyone together, there’s no need to put anyone down or be racist or abuse anyone, because it’s about love.

“Football has brought many people together – especially people of colour, we play in Australia, we’re loved by everyone. You can be a supporter, everyone loves their team, but abusing other people and making other people feel bad, that’s not what it’s about.”

Toure said his desire to take the penalty was a reflection of the confidence he has regained after an injury-wrecked last couple of seasons. His brother Mohamed, 18, recently signed for French Ligue 1 side Reims, and his younger brother Musa, 16, is also highly rated and poised to make his debut for Adelaide United this season in the A-League, which kicks off this weekend.

“I came onto the scene, I played well, but then I got some injuries that set me back, and it was hard to get back into the groove of things. I reckon this season ... it’s a step in the right direction for me,” Toure said.

“We’ve got some great players in that attacking third – Davila, [Daniel] Da Silva, Arzani, Lachie Rose. We have good chemistry. Everyone’s just friendly. There’s a good team spirit, everyone wants the best for each other. Even though Uli’s the captain and the penalty taker, he was able to give me the penalty to score. I think we have a good team bond.”

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