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The Western Sydney Wanderers achieved the greatest accomplishment in Australian club football history when they won the Asian Champions League against Saudi Arabian powerhouse Al-Hilal, winning 1-0 on aggregate in controversial fashion.
After winning the first game on home soil, Western Sydney went into the second leg looking to hold the lead and be victorious in the biggest game of their short history.
They did just that, with a little help from goalkeeper Ante Covic, who looked like a wall, lady luck and referee Yuichi Nishimura, who waved away four penalty claims, two which were definite and maybe even worthy of red cards.
There is no doubt in my mind that if these incidents happened the other way, and it was the Wanderers who were hard done by, it would have sparked outrage across Australia and Al-Hilal would be the most hated club in the country.
Just look back to how you felt when Italy’s Fabio Grosso won a last-minute penalty against Australia at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which cost the Socceroos a place in the quarter-finals. If it was the other way around, it would just be ‘part of the game’.
However, as a fan of Australian football, and after the behaviour of some of the Al-Hilal players after the match, I don’t care how the Wanderers won, I’m just glad they did.
Despite what Al-Hilal’s Nasser Al-Shamrani thinks, unless they are on fire, spitting at another player is never appropriate. Al-Hilal coach Laurentiu Reghecampf referred to Western Sydney as a “small club”, and got slapped by karma so hard he will be wearing the mark for the rest of his life.
If Al-Hilal had taken the loss with class and grace, they would not only have acquired the respect of the entire Australian nation, but would have also helped with the image of Middle Eastern people in Australia.
As someone who comes from a Middle Eastern background, it disappoints me to see such behaviour from the Al-Hilal players. As public sports figures, a lot of children will be looking up to these players, whether they like it or not. They need to be better role models and better ambassadors for their people.
In sport, there can be more to a championship side than just their skill or athletic ability. Western Sydney played their hearts out in their quest to make history, and ended up being successful.
Although in the short term, the controversy surrounding the Wanderers Asian Champions League win is big news, soon it will be solely known as the greatest achievement in Australian club history so far.
Western Sydney now go on to play Mexican giants Cruz Azul in the FIFA Club World Cup for a chance to play against one of the biggest clubs of all time, Real Madrid.
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