Champ

Tonight I went see the Australia v. Japan World Cup tie at the Federation Square —
big screen, bigger crowd, lots of beer and my favourite sport. Quit a heady mix!

But what a fabulous game it was!

Now that I am in Australia, I was rooting for this lovely country and the Socceroos obliged with three goals in last 14 minutes. Interestingly, there was a huge bunch of Japanese in blue Samurai uniforms, singing and chanting for most part of the games. The 1-0 lead,which lasted deep into the second half, kept them on their feets for most part of the game.

What I really love about Australia is that you can support any country/side you want to without anything nasty being said to you. The bigger Australian supporters were very sporting, reacting only to the game. There were a few jokers, 2 to be more precise, who yelled f#*@ a few times, but fortunately, both Japs and Aussies ignored these twisted buffoons and party went on.

However, the moment John Aloisi netted the third goal, the Aussie supporters starting singing “sionara, sionara… goodbye, goodbye”. Again, just a harmless Aussie banter.

What followed was a typically Aussie character — play hard, party harder. The entire crowd gathered in the middle of the Flinders-Sawnston crossing and danced till the early morning. And why not — Australia, the football nation has arrived.

While dancing with this totally mad crowd I was thinking which country I am going to support in the next game. On the one side it will be my all-time favorite Brazil and on the other side my new found love Australia.

Heck, who cares, party tonight, we will see when the game comes (Australian influence, is it?).