Three one to the Soccoroos*

*sung to the tune of go west

Monday morning I woke to meet Andrew, my room mate for the tour. He´s travelling with his brother and another friend, all three from Melbourne.

We and the other Australian fans gathered at Frankfurt Südbahn, south train station, for the Aussie express. FFA Travel had charted two trains to take us two hours to the south to Kaiseslaturn, location of Australia´s first game against Japan.

Like most train rides I had taken in Europe we had beautiful scenery along the way, which added to the keen chatter about Australia´s chances. The bar was getting plenty of business but the four of us were content to just soak it in and chat to the couple from Sydney who were sharing our compartment. On occasions we stopped at sidings or platforms to let faster trains past and each stop was an opportunity for us to make ourselves known to the locals and in some cases fans of other teams who are in the area, particularly Korea and Japan.

Kaiserslautern is the smallest city hosting world cup matches. They have a proud history of football as I was to find out from one local (who didn´t speak English so I finally had a chance to practice my very poor German). It is a beautiful city and there was a great atomsphere with thousands of Australian and Japanese fans and others filling the streets. We found a spot in the Australian ghetto where typical Australian anthemic tunes from the likes of ACDC, Hunters & Collectors, Farnham, John Williamson and Cold Chisel were pumping through the sound system.

We sung along both to the music and to our own Australian chants and had plenty of photos with the Japanese. Andrew had a large inflatable Kangaroo, which was a hit with the Japanese. It was great to soak up the atmosphere for a few hours before walking 2km up to the stadium.

I had a seat away from the others so I went my way to the stadium. On arrival I discovered that I was a long way back, in the very last row. I could still see all of the ground, if not in the distance, and before me stretched a sea of green and gold. We and the Japanese trades songs and chants as we waited for the formalities to begin.

Australia´s good start to the game with a lot of possesion and several shots at goal inspired us to sing louder and harder. I´ve been to many major sporting events but I think this takes the cake for atmosphere.

We were stunned into silence when Japan scored a controversial goal. How did it happen? The Japanese took heart and there chanting became louder. However we kept up the crowd support for the Socceroos with plenty of regular singing and chants.

Imagine the response when late in the second half they scored a goal to level the match. Suddenly we were back in the game and the Australian crowd were fired up. Strangers were hugging each other as they cheered. But when we scored a second and a third the crowd went wild. In the last ten minutes we had snatched victory.

Most of the Australians stayed in the ground for half an hour soaking in the glory of our first World Cup Match win. I headed back to the Australian ghetto where we where singing with renewed vigour.

The Japanese fans were very gracious loosers, more so the we would have been, and many of them joined in for the party. We had three hours after the game in Kaiserslautern before the train ride back to Frankfurt. It was a great place to be and to be at the game and see us win.

I spent most of the train ride back in the club car having a few beers and meeting a few more Australians. There was much celebrating to be done and for some I don´t think it stopped when we arrived at Frankfurt.