Australia 0 the other mob won.......

With reinforcements arriving in the early hours of the morning from Capetown, the atmosphere at HQ Durban was taken to a whole new level. This was the day that all of us had been long waiting for, the day that would see Australia open its 2010 World Cup campaign against one of the power houses of football.....bring on the Germans.

The preparation in camp began early with all the fanatics loading up well on carbohydrates and protein to assist with the energy they were to expend on this momentous day. There is no room for injury in the fanatics squad, so the warm up this morning was absolutely vital in our performance tonight. There were a few early scares leading up to lunch time with some of the Capetown crew requiring a kip after their 3am rise to fly in to Durban. All concerns however were soon alleviated when friends and family alike ensuring that the required levels of liquids were taken to once again build the enthusiasm of the individuals. A big thank you must go to Castle Brewers and Jack D for their assistance on this big day....we couldn’t have done it without you.

The HQ panel met today to discuss the hopes of a nation. Mel, Bozza and Charlie resumed their normal positions, and were ably assisted today by Irish Dave as the co host (of Hamish and Andy fame), Frank Arok in the dugout (former Socceroo coach) and Stan Lazaridis on the flanks (former Socceroo). It was a great opportunity for the fanatics to hear the opinions of some of the legends of the game in our country and to also hear of what they as former players required from Australia’s version of the barmy army. I got the distinct impression that Mr Arok is not a massive fan of coach Verbeek, which was probably confirmed for all of us by Frank’s reference to him as “the dutch guy”.



Mid afternoon the heavies arrived. There was still concern circulating with the regards to the level of which the fanatics were about to perform. All the media contingents had arrived on mass to witness the marvel of the green and gold army. Who didn’t want to be a part of this? It was 6 hours until kick off and any additional inspiration required presented in the shape of 2 great men......Steven Waugh and the head honcho of football in our country Mr Frank Lowy. Both Frank and Steve had a few words to say, and Steve’s comments to the head minister of Durban were priceless after the pre mentioned officially welcomed us all to his wonderful town and proceeded to indicate that whilst they beat us regularly at cricket they were right behind us on the football pitch. I don’t think I need to indicate what may have been said, other than that it was in true aussie cricket fashion. The fanatics had found their new leader!

In all honesty though, for the football purists back at home, it is such a positive for the game in our country to see the people and the faces that appear to support and march as one. As the speeches continued, one George from Masterchef slid his way into the crowd and obliviously made himself a part of the furniture...sadly for Georgy boy, yours truly had started to feel inspired and charged and managed to point him out in the crowd and lead a procession of photos and signatures. Sorry George.....my bad. Oh, and in my poor use of timing to peak at kick off, I may have also accidentally told one of the South African staff at HQ that I would give him my old Australian shirt off my back when I saw him the next day....pfft, it’s a sea of green and gold....he’ll never find me. Will he?

After all of the hype of the day, it was time to depart for the game. Some 2000 green and gold fanatics, or known in South Africa as nutters, marched our way down to the stadium in full voice. The atmosphere was electric from the moment of departure until the end of the game. The crowds hearing the obligatory renditions of Waltzing Matilda and aussie, aussie, aussie...oi, oi, oi. The colour and the spectacle were phenomenal to say the least, which was more that can be said for Australia’s performance. Sadly the lads went down to a far superior German outfit, but all is certainly not lost with there being every opportunity to progress to the knockout stages. I am still optimistic about our chances, however there will need to be a dramatic improvement. The best thing about the game was...well it is finished. That said, it is still hugely satisfying that we can get to see our national team play at the biggest sporting event on the planet. The equation I see it now is quite simple, beat Ghana, at minimum draw with Serbia and hope that the Germans can beat both. Easy from the arm chair isn’t it...

Onward and upward from here I say!

On a side note, the 14th of June is a special day for one of our family back at home. Happy Birthday to Georgia Rose! We love you and can’t wait to see you again soon.