Seeing 70,000 people back in a sporting venue in Sydney pumped blood into your veins, even if, to begin with, most of their electrifying cheers were saved for a sporting powerhouse from the other side of the planet.
The biggest cheers, early on, came for Barcelona, and particularly Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the former Arsenal striker now at the La Liga giant.
When Ousmane Dembele slotted the opening goal past Filip Kurto, the cheers were deafening. The crowd had got what they came to see.
Or what they thought they were coming to see.
Something shifted, about 40 minutes later.
The local boys turned an exhibition into a contest. The powerhouse trailed 2-1 to a team thrown together three days ago, but who were playing with a collective spirit representing their competition on the global stage, and with the individual fire clearly burning to prove a point as well.
Suddenly, late in the second-half, the A-Leagues All Stars were denied a foul while on the attack near Barcelona’s box.
The crowd hissed and whistled at the decision.
The A-Leagues All Stars had won them over.
“You saw the talent on show, they had a great platform and hence why the fans need to come out and support the league bit more, surely that should encourage (it),” Yorke said.
Right-back Rhyan Grant added: “Obviously everyone is out here to see Barcelona in Australia but when we went ahead the crowd definitely got behind us and spurred us on.
“We couldn’t get that bickies but nice to come out here and have a different experience.”
For the few who couldn’t fathom bringing European teams to Australia, in Grand Final week – or ever – or the benefit it brings to our game, it was in full picture on Wednesday night. So too was the power and reach of our sport, and that infuriating dichotomy of what it takes to get this 70,000 to return for the local competition.
Former Premier League midfielder Rodwell continued: “You look at the atmosphere tonight at the stadium and it was just absolutely amazing.
“But you look at this season and it’s been a little low in terms of numbers – but covid and a few of other factors have come into play.
“I think, having watched that tonight, on the biggest platform against one of the biggest clubs in the world – there is something to be excited about in the A-League.
“We have a good bunch of players in there, and hopefully we can keep attracting fans and grow the game a bit more.
“The A-League deserves that.”
What doesn’t hurt is when the local competition flaunt their quality like this, both on the park, and with the subsequent social media hysteria that ensues from such a depth of inspiring moments.
Suddenly, the A-Leagues is on people’s minds – which, we have to be realistic enough to say isn’t always the case – two sleeps out from a Grand Final.
Garang Kuol and Nestroy Irankunda will rightfully take the headlines – for the wholesomeness of their reactions, but also the quality they showed that belied their age – but the work, and competitiveness from the likes of Jason Cummings, Jay O’Shea, Rhyan Grant, Isaias, Reno Piscopo, Adama Traore, and the entire gaggle of players, should only serve to enforce a key point: there’s nothing wrong with the quality of the A-League. It is everything else around it that needs to do justice to what the players and coaches are producing.
“You kind of wonder how football doesn’t get the platform it deserves,” mused All Stars coach Dwight Yorke after the game.
“It is the biggest sport in the world, we are not trying to step on anyone’s toes here.
“To see a crowd of that magnitude, probably the biggest one in Sydney for a number of years now, it just tells you something is not particularly right.
“But we need to get it right, the fans need to come out and see the players and support.”
Yorke will get that opportunity to contribute to getting that right when he takes over as Macarthur boss next A-Leagues season, and you can sense he will be a true advocate for the sport in his role in the A-Leagues.
In three days, his confident demeanour rubbed off on a collective of players who might have crumbled down 1-0 against Barcelona, but instead, rallied and lifted and scored two goals worthy of a team that had been playing together all season.
“I don’t want to say I was surprised, but it was definitely a great feeling,” Grant added.
“We held our own for parts of the game especially in the first-half…in the moment, we really enjoyed it, the boys were celebrating and the fans got behind us.”
His assistant coach, Matildas legend Heather Garriock, added: “You can tell tonight the boys were disciplined, they held their structure, however he (Yorke) told them to be fearless and that’s exactly what they were, and courageous as well.”
She continued: “What a night for football, for the leagues…it just shows the capability we have in Australia. Exciting young players…we have quality players, we can put a show on here in Australia…that was unimaginable.”
Unimaginable for two young kids, Irankunda, 16 and a Barcelona fan, and Kuol, who stole the limelight but would have made even bigger headlines had he buried a couple of chances.
“That is why it was really important to select some kids; nights like this make you dream, believe you can make it. You can hear the crowd now,” she said.
