EVOKE THE PASSION
Disclaimer – One shouldn’t read a passion provoking novel such as ‘That Night’ before attending a Socceroos World Cup Qualifier, expectations become far too great and no matter how well the words falls off the page and become entrapped in your thoughts for the remainder of the day you will never get close to the passion and emotion shown by Football fans in Australia that night.
Socceroos clap clap clap, Socceroos clap clap clap.
During any World Cup qualifier in my home town of Melbourne I have a tradition of walking through the CBD and soaking up the atmosphere. There is something special about the City awash with Green and Gold, combined with the odd smattering of the opposition’s colours; today it was Samurai Blue. Walking past men and women of all ages sporting a Socceroos scarf, kids talking about their favourite Socceroos with stars in their eyes or just getting the thumbs up from the young child because you are wearing a Socceroos shirt.
We leave club allegiances at the door, and become one. Twenty-four million supporters, one heartbeat.
It all sounds wonderful in theory but then you actually get to the ground and you quickly work out Australian’s are quite poor at supporting their national team. Tonight wasn’t a meaningless friendly, it was a World Cup qualifier against our biggest confederation rival played in the sporting capital of this country; Well you could’ve fooled me.
This is not a cheap shot at the active support created by the countless volunteers who give hours of their time to see our support and love grow for our national team. Tonight they did their damndest to create any type of atmosphere but the ‘event goers’ from Melbourne sat on their hands throughout the ninety minutes, and most likely patted themselves on the back for attending just another Socceroos game.
You could count on one hand the amount of times the home crowd stood up and became involved in the game, a far cry from the countless minutes the Japanese support sang their hypnotic chant throughout the game. The biggest cheer of the night was reserved for substitute Tim Cahill entering the game, and Jedinak’s penalty was only just behind. Apart from these brief moments the crowd (much like the Socceroos) never really got into the game tonight.
Melbourne prides itself on attending sporting events; I’ll put my hand up and admit if Melbourne has hosted it, I’ve probably attended. It’s all well and good attending these events, and the organisers will thank you from the bottom of their pockets but if you don’t have the passion for an event such as a World Cup qualifier, stay at home next time.
Sing when you are winning you only sing when….come on Australia fans. Make some noise. If it wasnt for Japan fans this cld be a library
— Michael Lynch (@MickLynch_Age) October 11, 2016
I have no problem with the attendance figure, given the fact it’s a school night, price structure, (the FFA may have priced a fair few people out given football fans also have to fork out for Melbourne Derby tickets this weekend), the choice venue and given the fact the game was shown live on free to air commercial television. Most at FFA HQ will be well pleased with the attendance figures and will be sure to put this under the noses of those wanting to bid for the current A-League television rights.
We will never reach the levels of passion show in parts of Europe and South America but during a World Cup qualifying campaign supporters also need to bring their A-Game, and to be outsung like we were tonight was a poor representation of where our support for the Socceroos currently stands.
Let’s not forget we are current Asian Champions and strong contenders to qualify for Russia 2018. We need to create a cauldron like atmosphere for the remainder of our home games, and be there for the team when they need a lift. From the stands tonight you could tell some of the boys were flat and we sat their expecting Ange would lift them towards the three points, well you know what; it didn’t happen.
We were gifted a very soft penalty tonight and handed an undeserved point in a game where we should’ve been striving for maximum points. Melbourne you have failed your national team and now it’s up to the next city to represent our Socceroos with pride.
As a nation we must find that inner burning desire to support our team and make the road to Russia as smooth as possible. Socceroos fans, we must EVOKE THE PASSION.
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