By DPA,
Sydney : A crowd of more than 10,000 Australian football fans flocked to the Sydney Harbour foreshore to watch the opening match of the World Cup football and stake out a prime spot in front of the big screen for their team’s coming clash with Germany.
Fans dressed in the green and gold of the national team streamed into Darling Harbour to take up position in front of a floating screen to watch Mexico draw with hosts South Africa.
Braving one of the coldest nights of the southern hemisphere winter, the well-behaved crowd also had the spectacle of a football match played by teams of homeless people on a floating pitch.
Sydney is one of six official FIFA fan sites along with Berlin, Mexico City, Paris, Rio de Janeiro and Rome.
“We’re just really excited to be out to watch the World Cup,” said one fan. “It comes every four years and you just want to celebrate it.”
Luke Gordon, who journeyed in from outlying Camden, said the big night – or, rather, early morning – would be Monday when the Socceroos take on Germany in their opening Group D match.
The time difference means most matches screen in Sydney at 4:30 am – too late to stay up for and too late to go to bed after.
“All I hope is that we do play well and make it to the second round,” Gordon said. “I’m looking forward to heading into the city with Aussie masses.”
Australia have a poor World Cup record against Germany. In Germany in 1974 they were bundled out of the finals without scoring a goal after being beaten by both West Germany and East Germany.