There were wild scenes, mounted police, and plenty of flares at Melbourne's Fed Square early on Saturday morning as football fans caused pre-dawn chaos. Waking early and braving the elements, fans flocked to the city's iconic viewing area opposite Flinders St Station to watch the Socceroos go down to the USA, 2-0.
Way before the final result at around 4am, there was chaos when the gates opened and the crowd surged. Barriers toppled as people jumped the queue, all trying to squeeze into the viewing area and grab prime position. Mounted police moved in to try and maintain order, as other instructions for the crowd to cool it fell on deaf ears.
Emcee and football icon Craig Foster pleaded to the crowd to "put the flares away", but that also fell on deaf ears. Flares were flying during the Australian National Anthem ahead of the game, while a chorus of boos rung out during the US anthem. It was arguably fortunate for police that the Americans scored first, quickly dampening the spirits of the crowd.
With the Socceroos going down 2-0 at half-time, many people even started to leave. By the end of the match, Fed Square was almost deserted within minutes as disappointed fans made a quick getaway. "Not the result we were after," Foster said as fans departed. "We'll be back here on Friday against Paraguay ... see you then, guys. Go the Socceroos."
The US (six points) now lead Australia (three) in Group D, with Turkey and Paraguay facing off on Friday night. The Aussies' hopes of progression and sealing a top-two berth will now come down to their final group match against Paraguay on June 25 (June 26 AEST). Many questions will now be asked of coach Tony Popovic, whose call to bench Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe for the start of the match (the goalscorers in Australia's opening 2-0 win over Turkey) clearly backfired.
"I don't know if it was the occasion, but we looked sluggish, heavy legged," Popovic lamented. "They were quicker, they were more powerful. They won every duel, they won every second ball and when you do that, it makes it very difficult. Then we conceded two soft goals."
