World Cup Fever

So, the Soccer World Cup starts soon...or has it already started??

Last World Cup (4 or 5 years ago?) I discovered a love of watching soccer (or football as my Englishman calls it- thats a whole other blog though) or at least, watching Australia's Socceroos play soccer in the World Cup. On a whim, when Aus was going well, myself and a few friends decided to get up early and watch the next Aussie game.......how exciting!

We decided to do so at our friend Brooke's house, as her other half was in Germany where the World Cup was being played. Someone picked up Macca's coffees, the rest of us brought chocolate, sugar and loads of enthusiasm and the 4 or 5 of us sat around in Brooke's living room, yelling at the tv and slowly learning the players names and the rules of the game.

By the end of the first game we watched, we had a pretty good understanding and had some favourite players already - mine was number 6, little Timmy Cahill, second favourite being Lucas Neill. When Australia won, our enthusiasm only became more and we planned our next early morning World Cup party with excitement and anticipation.....

The next game we watched (and I've had to check with my englishman to find out this as I cant remember) was the game against Italy.......for those who watched last time, and even those who didn't but watched any news to do with the Socceroos, the game against Italy was nailbiting and had a horrid, unfair-feeling ending. Poor Lucas Neill, penalised for something he didnt do! Horrible Italian players faking injuries and just a general feeling of injustice. Australia were the underdogs, the underdogs should win shouldnt they? And this time we even deserve it! Maybe?......

Either way, getting together with my girly girlfriends who know nothing about soccer and watching those 2 games taught me a lot about the game - not just the rules but the way it is played - the psychology behind it, the strategy and the unfairness of calls the refs can make.

This year, I'm looking forward to having my Englishman around to explain the intricacies of the politics, give me information about the other teams, and spur my passion for my country and watching sport enough to make me get up at 4am to watch Australia games, and even heading into the city in the middle of winter to watch gameswith a whole heap of other crazy football fans.

In return, I spose I'll have to watch a few England matches as well ;-)

I've got my Socceroos scarf and I'm ready to cheer my team on!!! AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!!