Australian Fans Celebrate in Style

Australia cannot stop itself from celebrating. After the phenomenal victory managed by Guus Hiddink's team, the media and the Australian supporters are still under the influence of the last 5 minutes of their opener against Japan. Since Australia succeeded, this way, to win its first game in a World Cup tournament, their supporters went nuts just a few minutes after the game ended.

Despite the time zone difference, the streets of all Australian big cities were full of "Socceroo" fans. Even if most of them were used to do that only after Rugby Union matches, it seems that football managed to secure an important spot in the hearts of Australian sports fans. Along with the 25.000 - or even more - fans present in Kaiserslautern, the Australian media was also in the 7th heaven after their favorite's win.

The Sydney "Daily Telegraph" started today's edition with a big title: "Goal! Goal! Goal!", referring to the last 5 minutes of the game, when Cahill and Aloisi scored three times. Another newspaper, this time the Herald Sun, tried to put it in only two words: "Pure Magic". And, by all means, how else can you name one of the greatest comebacks in the World Cup history?

"We have entered the History Books of the World Cup", states the same Herald Sun, trying to remind everyone that Australia managed to score its first goals in a World Cup tournament. This way, they managed to outcome their poor performance in 1974, when the "kangaroos" were eliminated in the group stage, without scoring one goal.

It seems, though, that the man to "blame" for that is their coach, Guus Hiddink. After managing to bring South Korea to the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup, he stepped out and took on a job at PSV Eindhoven. He won two championships here, and took on a part-time job in Australia. After the end of the current World Cup, he will take over as head coach of the Russian national team.