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The dream becomes reality
June 22nd, 2006
Today, Ghana and Australia both fulfilled dreams by reaching the second round of the World Cup finals for the first time.
I’m afraid that I’m yet to see a minute of Ghana’s match against the USA. When it was played, I was watching the telecast of Czech Republic v Italy on the enormous screens in Stuttgart’s Fan Fest. I then went to the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium for Croatia v Australia. I was there more than two hours before kick off and the stadium’s screens just showed Czech Republic v Italy again.
Stuttgart has a nice centre and the large Fan Fest is right in its heart. It is quite aesthetically pleasing because it’s surrounded by attractive historic buildings.
In fact, the whole city should put fans in the right frame of mind. The central train station is across the road from Königstrasse, a pedestrian-only shopping mall. (And at the station, you can get maps with suggested walking tours. Why don’t all cities do this?) Königstrasse is wide and over one kilometre long.
Unfortunately I was in anything but the right frame of mind. I don’t mind admitting that I was incredibly nervous this morning.
Game time couldn’t come soon enough. I did the excellent suggested walking tour in the morning but there was no way I could get tonight’s match off my mind.
When Australia plays Italy in Kaiserslautern on 26 June, I won’t feel that way. This World Cup is now a success for the Socceroos because qualifying for the last 16 was the realistic goal.
Sure, I hope Australia defeats Italy. (Hey, I hope we win the tournament.) But I’m not going to panic about the outcome like I did today. Socceroos’ fans wanted the world to know that we deserve to be here and tonight the mission was accomplished.
Half an hour after the match ended, I told a few people around me that they should remember the moment (in truth, there’s little chance of forgetting it). Unless we win the World Cup, we’ll probably never have an experience like that again.
Australia didn’t just qualify for the second round – it did so after one of the most extraordinary World Cup matches you’ll see.
Could it have had any more drama? The team that needed to win twice took the lead and the team that needed to draw twice equalised. Each team had a player sent off; there was a penalty given and other penalty claims rejected. We saw goal line clearances and penalty box scrambles.
And on top of all that, you had a passionate crowd packing the stadium. The Croatians especially make a noise that few others can match. Under lights, you can’t beat an occasion like this.
The stadium is the sixth I’ve seen at the World Cup and the only one of those six that has an Olympic running track around it. This does nothing for people’s views of the action. It normally does nothing for the ground’s atmosphere either, though it’s hard to imagine that it could have been better tonight.
Once again, Guus Hiddink’s luck held. For this match he made his greatest mistake since he took charge of the Socceroos. He dropped goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer from the starting team and replaced him with Zeljko Kalac.
I’m a Hiddink fan and I’m certain that Australia wouldn’t be enjoying so much success without him. Nevertheless, no one is infallible and I don’t understand his desire to play Kalac. Is there any doubt that Schwarzer is a better choice between the posts?
Kalac nearly cost Australia a place in the last 16 by gifting Croatia a 2-1 lead when he made a complete mess of a Nico Kovac shot. It should have been a routine save. Fortunately for the Socceroos, a couple of other wobbly moments were not punished.
You couldn’t blame the goalkeeper for Croatia’s opening goal. After yet another nervy start by Australia (a problem I identified as far back as the 4 June friendly against the Netherlands), a stunning Dario Srna free kick gave Croatia the lead.
Back came the Socceroos and, after one strong penalty claim was ignored, referee Graham Poll pointed to the spot after the World Cup saw yet another deliberate handball. (Why has there been a sudden outbreak of these?)
Craig Moore stepped up (from the middle of defence) and levelled the scores.
In the second half, the intensity lifted again. Whatever you thought of the quality of this match, you simply could not question the teams’ endeavour. This game was played for real.
The Croats again went ahead after Kalac’s error and then Australia threw everything forward in an attempt to equalise. The full strike force was deployed with John Aloisi and Josh Kennedy joining Mark Viduka up front.
A couple of Aussie chances went begging midway through the second half but Harry Kewell, who had been showing some of his best form, levelled the match again in the 79th minute.
The last ten minutes of this match will not be forgotten by anyone in the stadium. Croatia threw everything at the Aussies in search of an equaliser; each team had a player sent off; and at least one goal line clearance prevented Australia from going behind again.
It’s impossible to describe the relief and the ecstasy of the stadium’s gold-shirted fans when the final whistle was blown. I, and many other Aussies, simply didn’t want to leave the stadium. And we didn’t, until some attendants politely asked us to.
I probably don’t need to tell you that I partied with my countrymen and got back to my hotel room later than I should have. Please don’t blame me if I’m delirious. Today the dream became reality.
The diary is going to have its first rest day on 23 June. I’ll explain why when I return a day later.
In the meantime, stand up for the Socceroos.
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