On Saturday, as Socceroos fans drove through the centre of Rustenburg towards the Royal Bafokeng Stadium ahead of Australia’s Group D fixture with Ghana, they could be forgiven for feeling alarmed at the sight of half a dozen shops spruiking tombstones.
Thankfully, that morbid sight didn’t prove to be a bad omen for the Socceroos.
Down to 10 men for much of the game, and with their backs to the wall, Australia rallied and was by far the superior team in the second half.
Gallant, brave, astute, considered, pick any positive adjective and it would be appropriate. Unfortunately the same couldn’t be said for a handful of morons amongst the Australian supporters.
After a free kick was given against Nikita Rukavytsya late in the game for a late challenge on Ghana goalkeeper Richard Kingson, a tirade of bottles were thrown at the pitch – by Australian supporters!
While it was all from the one section of the stadium (which I was amongst) and only a couple made their destination, bottles were thrown intermittently as the game died out.
In other words, it was more than one or two stupid drunk supporters behaving badly and was very disappointing to see.
It had my mind thinking back to the reception the Uruguayan anthem got at ANZ Stadium in Sydney before that memorable 2005 World Cup playoff.
On Friday evening as England “supporters” were booing their team, I was proudly revelling with some colleagues from the Australian media in South Africa that Australian fans simply wouldn’t turn on their own like that. Yet the next day, as Australians booed coach Pim Verbeek, I was proved half-wrong.
If I was surprised to see the Australian response to Verbeek’s name, I was even more shocked by those who decided to throw beer bottles at the pitch.
Let me be clear, at most 20 or so bottles were thrown at the pitch and there were no players or match officials near that section of the stadium (though plenty of photographers, fans and security guards were nearly hit) but that doesn’t excuse this behaviour. A string of controversial refereeing decisions is no justification and it did little to lessen my embarrassment at the time.
Yet the real reason I’m bringing this souring event up is not just because I was ashamed by the behaviour of some of my fellow Australians. Instead, I wish to make one thing clear: just like the rest of the world, Australians also do “these” things.
Far too often Australians, whether they are fans or official members of the Socceroos delegation, have criticised members of other nations for a range of actions deemed unacceptable. Now we’ve been caught doing something just as bad. On the global stage, no less.
When someone makes a mistake, whether it’s as a referee or a supporter, his or her nationality shouldn’t be relevant (I’ve already had to put up with four years of “bloody Italians” so please not again). It’s too easy to get caught up in national stereotypes and other garbage at such moments.
As embarrassed as I am by the behaviour of those few Australians, I hope people don’t associate the actions of a few idiots with the rest of what is a wonderful set of Socceroos supporters. Furthermore, I’d encourage us all to bear that in mind when considering the actions of opponents and referees in the future.
To put it simply, on Saturday at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium a referee gave a bad decision and some foolish spectators embarrassed themselves and their country. No more, no less.
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