Thousands of diehard Socceroos supporters have braved a crisp winter morning to pack live sites and pubs for Australia’s do-or-die clash with Egypt. Enthusiastic supporters, dressed in a sea of green and gold, set out hours before the 4am kick-off to secure a spot at live sites and pubs in cities including Melbourne and Sydney. Victory over Egypt at Dallas Stadium would hand the Socceroos their first World Cup knockout win and lift them into the round of 16. Melbourne’s Hickens Hotel, a longstanding fan
favourite for watching the game in the city centre, is among the venues taking advantage of relaxed licensing laws for the occasion. The pub has capacity for more than 1000 patrons. “We’ll be full,” bar manager Giuseppe Lacaua told AAP ahead of the match. The venue, which boasts more than 60 screens, began preparing for the turnout months in advance. “We remove all the chairs to create a stadium-like atmosphere,” Mr Lacaua said. “It’s electric . just a really, really fun atmosphere.” Despite the early
start, revellers were still tipped to celebrate in the usual pub style. “We’ve ordered over 20 kegs in preparation . and that’s just of Guinness,” Mr Lacaua said. Socceroos coach Tony Popovic thanked venues back home for providing places for fans to gather and really soak in the atmosphere. “We know that that will just enhance the experience for the locals who love a drink and love to watch sport in general in Australia,” Popovic said. “When you’ve got pretty much every single Australian –
over 25 million people – wanting to watch the Socceroos, young, old, boys, girls, and if this enables our fans to enjoy the live sites with a drink, then we thank whoever’s organised that.” Winger Ajdin Hrustic, who was a part of the team that enjoyed a golden run in Qatar, has long believed this group of Socceroos can be the first to win a knockout game. “It most likely will happen one day, and it can be us, right?” Hrustic said. “If you have
your day on that day, you go further. The next game, it’s your day again. “You’ve got to create it, you’ve got to make it happen. It’s not going to get gifted to you. “So we’re definitely going to fight for it, and we’ll prepare the best we can.”
Socceroos, Egypt, World Cup, Dallas Stadium, live sites, Hickens Hotel, Melbourne, Sydney, Ajdin Hrustic, Tony Popovic, Giuseppe Lacaua
4am kickoff?? That’s brutal. Guessing they’re gonna be hungover by halftime.
So are they saying the pub has like 60 screens or 60 TVs in a row lol. Either way I’m glad they can drink and watch a knockout game
Wait, Dallas Stadium in Melbourne? Or is this one of those articles that just mixes up places. Like I thought Dallas was in Texas so how is it an Aussie pub thing. But yeah good for the Aussie fans, 20 kegs sounds made up tho
I don’t get it, if it’s do-or-die why are they starting at 4am instead of normal time. Also the coach talking about locals getting a drink like that’s the key to winning… smh. Hopefully they actually win and it wasn’t just another excuse for the bars to go crazy.