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The tens of thousands of Socceroos fans who turned out at live sites across the country in the early Sunday morning hours are a reminder of the awesome power of the world game.
For one glorious week, Graham Arnold and his battling underdogs made us all believe.
That’s because for the first time since the Golden Generation of 2006, the Socceroos didn’t just participate at the World Cup final: they genuinely competed.
And the win over Denmark that sealed our progression to the Round of 16 transformed Australia into a genuine football nation – at least for a couple of days.
For the first time in forever, the Socceroos found themselves on the front and back page of every newspaper in the country.
The sight of thousands of fans packing into Federation Square in Melbourne for all three group-stage games prompted state premiers around the country to react, with live sites belatedly set up Australia-wide.
Not for the first time, the popularity of football – a game with the most passionate following of any sport around the world – caught our dozy politicians off guard.
They’d do well to wake up for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, because it will be by far the biggest sporting event Australia has hosted – along with our neighbours New Zealand – in years.
Graham Arnold’s men proved on Sunday morning, once and for all, that Australia belongs at this level.
The Socceroos gave absolutely everything in their 2-1 defeat to Argentina, only to come undone thanks to a couple of costly mistakes.
The first was left back Aziz Behich being goaded into a foul after clashing with Lionel Messi. The Argentine superstar had words with the Aussie veteran on the sideline, before a fired-up Behich went straight through the back of Papu Gomez from the subsequent thrown-in.
While Harry Souttar headed away the resultant free-kick, the ball broke kindly for Messi. After rapidly getting the ball back into the box, he created enough space to get one of his trademark skidding strikes with no back-lift away through a sea of legs and into the back of Mat Ryan’s net.
If Ryan was unsighted for the first goal, he was entirely at fault for the second.
His quick throw to Behich was routine enough, but after the Aussies went backwards and Ryan found himself under pressure from Argentina’s relentless high press, the captain’s attempt to skip between two attackers ended in disaster when a heavy touch allowed the quicksilver Julian Alvarez to fire home on the turn.
It wasn’t the first time in the tournament Australia’s desire to play out from the back cost them a goal, and it’s exceedingly difficult to come back from two goals down against a team like Argentina.
But substitute Craig Goodwin’s deflected strike was the bit of luck Australia needed – it was eventually credited as an Enzo Fernandez own goal – and set up a quintessential grandstand finish.
It ended up being Argentina who looked the more likely to score as Lionel Scaloni’s side exploited the space opening up in front of them, but at least the Socceroos didn’t die wondering.
It was another heroic performance on the back of a wonderful week of football that restored our faith in the national team.
Mitch Duke looks dejected after Australia’s elimination from the World Cup. (Photo by David Ramos – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
From the messages of support from prime minister Anthony Albanese to the tens of thousands who packed into live sites around Australia to cheer the side on, this has been one of the most memorable weeks in our nation’s sporting history.
Had Argentina goalkeeper Emi Martinez not spread his considerable wingspan to save substitute Garang Kuol’s close-range shot in the dying seconds of stoppage time, we might even be talking about a different result.
But the Socceroos deserve our heartfelt congratulations – and Arnie deserves our thanks.
They made us true believers once again. That was the greatest tournament in the history of Australia’s men’s national team.
We can’t be sad it’s over. We should simply be delighted to have been along for the ride.