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A player for Box Hill Rangers in Sydney, Lemenager said football’s appeal was about far more than the game itself.<\/p>\n
“I love the game, I love the friendships,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Everyone loves it, it’s super inclusive.”<\/p>\n
For local resident Garry Singleton, the World Cup is unlike any other sporting event.<\/p>\n
“I went over to Germany in 2006 for the World Cup and it was just absolutely incredible,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The fanatics are fanatical. Just the experience of going there was bloody crazy.”<\/p>\n
Singleton recalled visiting the home town of former Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink during the tournament, where a visit to Hiddink’s brother’s restaurant unexpectedly landed his group in the local newspaper and attracted dozens of Australian supporters.<\/p>\n
“So we all amalgamated there,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We said, ‘Is this the local haunt?’, and they said, ‘No, we read about you guys in the paper’.”<\/p>\n
World Cup fever is expected to continue across the region as the Socceroos prepare to face Egypt on Saturday 4 July at 4am AEST.<\/p>\n
The Park Hotel in Suffolk Park will open from 3.30am for supporters wanting to watch the match on the big screen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CROWDS gathered at venues across the Northern Rivers last week to watch the Socceroos book their place in the Round of 32 with a scoreless draw against Paraguay in their final group-stage match. With kick-off at noon last Friday, supporters took time off work to cheer on the green and gold as Tony Popovic’s young […]<\/p>\n