Opinion
When the final whistle sounded around midnight on Saturday night at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Doha, the stark realisation that the dream was over came way too soon for many of those clad in green and gold.
Eyes were glazed with tears. The most spirited of fightbacks, coming from 2-0 down early in the second half, the Socceroos were a whisker away from sending the game into extra-time as Garang Kuol’s turn and shot was expertly blocked by Emiliano Martinez in front of the excited Australian fans.
Argentina had thrown everything at Australia, Maty Ryan had redeemed himself many-times over for his unusual error that presented the second goal to the South Americans, but Arnie’s brave team were still in the game right until the final kick.
This 10pm kick off presented the Australian fans with the luxury of an all-day pre-game, but with many fans having already been to this stadium, next to the expansive Mall of Qatar shopping centre at the end of the green metro line, there was caution about how late to leave the run to the stadium.
As the Wales versus England group stage game had shown, all late arrivals would be funnelled to an access gate a good kilometre from the stadium, so being late would mean you’d be duly punished.
But first, there was plenty of time to get the voice box lubricated, and following a breakfast of champions, the now legendary Hive at West Bay was again the meeting point for the independent Socceroos fans.
Ticketing to the game was efficient – all those travellers not with a tour were able to sign up for two tickets. As with the ticket allocations for the group stage games, that was expected to be a ballot, so there were chewed fingernails until the success emails were received just after 10pm on the Friday night, and many people were purchasing their tickets online in the stadium as Switzerland played Serbia and Brazil went up against Cameroon.
What this also did was throw open the possibility for people to on-sell a spare ticket, and therefore dilute the Socceroos section; human nature dictated that this was a very likely scenario.
Some low quality shots from the @Socceroos round of 16 games #ARGAUS. No camera at the game this time, but hopefully still a few shots to remind you of the occasion. If you have any more, please add to the thread. Hope everyone enjoyed the #Socceroos @FIFAWorldCup experience! 1/6 pic.twitter.com/Umy12eg0Qm
— Texi Smith (@SmithTexi) December 5, 2022
Having taken in the Argentina v Poland game that followed Australia’s passage through the group stage, one thing was certain: any spare seat, any resale ticket, and every seat not occupied by a Socceroos fan would be taken by a fan in a sky blue and white shirt.
Whether these were locals simply gunning for Messi or genuine fans from Argentina, these fans were like the mouse plague. Everywhere you look, there’d be more of them, and as had been discussed with fans from Argentina during the week, they would stop at nothing to get a ticket. Money no object.
Arriving at the stadium, the atmosphere was joyful, all fans in good spirits, photo opportunities for both camps with opposition supporters, and the true extent of the imbalance in support for the two countries was obvious. Coming into the stadium, Australia had been allocated the area behind the goals that had been so well populated by the Welsh, but the numbers were much smaller.
There was a mix of supporter types too, the active fans finding it tricky to assemble thanks to the ‘that’s my seat’ fans – sitting down was not an option anyway, this was too important a game to spend any moment of it on your backside.
Incredibly, Argentinian fans had infiltrated the Australian section, and there was some one-sided debate as to whose flags would adorn the section, some blue and white banners removed to be replaced by boxing kangaroos. This was our territory – go and hang your flag with all the other thousands of Messi flags around the stadium!
(Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
The national anthems were heart-stopping and the noise was something else. Australia wore their feted white socks, and looked the part, the team composition was familiar, although Keanu Bacchus was given the nod in midfield and the formation had more than just Mitch Duke up front.
An early scare saw VAR come into play and wave away a very possible shout for a penalty for handball against Bacchus, not that the in-stadium experience allowed any viewing or debate on the big screens, and we were treated to an early corner from Riley McGree that danger man Harry Souttar got his head to but couldn’t direct with any power.
There was a spell during the half when Australia maintained possession for ages, and the fans had to stifle the urge to olé. We were playing the tournament favourites here and that would be thrown back at us if we weren’t careful.
Some on-the-edge battling by the revelation that is Aziz Behich resulted in a free-kick out right in front of us, and when the ball was recycled, Messi was on hand to fire low past Ryan from just inside the area, a brilliant finish in just the spot that Ryan would not get down to in time, and the crowd roared.
The lines for a non-alcoholic Budweiser were too long at the break – the Qatari obsession with giving two and sometimes three receipts for every transaction proving way too slow – and we were ready for the second half before we noticed.
Argentina, now shooting directly at their huge bank of fans at the far end, started to find room and they were turning the screw. What a shock it was then when Ryan received a tricky back pass from Kye Rowles and tried to trick his way out of trouble.
Instead he presented the ball to Julian Alvarez who turned and simply rolled the ball into the empty net. It was like a knife to the heart, not part of the script, but to their credit, the fans and the players wiped it from their memories almost immediately and Australia continued to press for a way back into the game.
(Photo by Youssef Loulidi/Fantasista/Getty Images,)
Messi was putting on a show, giving us a vintage performance for his adoring fans, and he almost dribbled the whole team at one point, but the third goal to kill the contest wouldn’t come.
Arnie gave us astute substitutions that pepped up the team, and from absolutely nowhere, his team got themselves back into the game.
Sub Craig Goodwin slashed at an opportunity from distance that took a wicked deflection and suddenly the ball was in the net right in front of us.
The Socceroos fans didn’t really know what to do, but celebrated well, despite the goal coming totally against the run of play.
Soon after, Behich channelled his inner Messi and dribbled through a host of players, an opportunity opening up right in front of us, but where a striker’s toe-poke may have done nicely, the time it took to pull the trigger with power allowed a superb defensive block to thwart an amazing move.
With the 90 minutes almost up, Argentina had done everything but score. One of the Martinez strikers should have scored, but Ryan made a great save, going the wrong way, and as time was running out, late sub Garang Kuol found himself in space in the box and turned to shoot, but goalkeeper Martinez stood tall and spread himself expertly to keep the shot out. It was absolutely thrilling.
By now, we had accepted our fate, and sure enough, the seven minutes of injury time were up. The final whistle saw hands go over faces, and the fans start to come to terms with the loss.
Argentinian fans wanted to take over the Australia section and were sent packing with some ferocious words, there were some issues as kids were bundled over in the ruckus and the South American fans were given a roasting for celebrating like idiots in the Aussie end.
The players acknowledged the support tonight, but not with anything prolonged. It was a little disappointing to see a number of the players disappear down the tunnel when perhaps this was the time to offload shirts and boots, but we did have the heart-wrenching sight of Awer Mabil and Garang Kuol, arm in arm, watching the extended Argentinian celebrations at the other end of the stadium.
These guys were supporters just like us, and they were quite rightly drinking in the atmosphere from a group of rival fans who were deservedly rejoicing their team’s qualification into the quarter finals of the FIFA World Cup.
The initial disappointment shown towards the Argentinian fans was quickly replaced with a congratulatory atmosphere and that’s when it hit home – the adventure was over. It’s a brutal way to end a tournament, after a good run of positivity and hope, but that’s why we love our football. It’s cut-throat and the best team usually wins on the day.
The journey back to the Hive was spent dissecting the common theme of how we should embrace this upsurge in interest in football; if A-League attendances were not on the up next weekend, what more could we do?
The evening was all about goodbyes, the manager of the pub thanking the Aussies for making this such a memorable time, fans hugging goodbye, and the acknowledgement that the tournament was over for the Socceroos. There’s plenty of football still to be played in this brilliant World Cup, but the majority of the Australian fans will be heading back home almost immediately.
Thanks for sharing these last two weeks in Doha. It has been an amazing experience.
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