Well, it's front page news in Australia's premier newspaper, the
Sydney Morning Herald, so I am sure I was not dreaming. I must admit never
to have written a match report of consequence so there is sure to be room
for improvement, suggestions are welcomed.
	I arrived just in time to catch the Opening Ceremony, an event staged
by the company of which Rick Birch (LA & Barcelona Olympics organiser) is
owner. The theme was distinctly Australian, with images of Surfing, Sun and
Aboriginal dance. I felt a cringe as the Kangaroo striker and Koala Referee
made their way onto the ground but I guess it's an image which we feel 
obliged to exploit. Some of the patterns were lost for me in the front row,
but the big screen provided a view for everyone. I was lucky enough to score
one of the promotional footballs specially marked for the Opening Ceremony 
which were kicked into the grandstands. (I hear you cry 'If you were in the
front row how'd get a ball that was kicked into the crowd?'. Well the kid
who kicked the ball I got managed to kick it into the shoulder of the guy
next to him, taking all the pace off it and lobbing to me. Now you know) I
was offered $50 for the ball after the match.
	The speeches which are part and parcel of this kind of event were
made by ex-NSW premier 'Nifty' Neville Wran, Governor-General of Australia
Bill Hayden, ASF Chairman John Constantine and Joao Havelange head cheese
at FIFA. It seemed strange to have him address the crowd in French but I 
must have been mistaken in my belief that he knew English for I cannot
think of any other reason why he would want to speak French. Thankfully
a translation rolled along the big screen, he expressed his approval of the
events staging and attendance, wished the teams well and offered his luck
for the Sydney 2000 bid.
	The Crowd ended up at 31,883 which was a little below what was expected
but considering the usual crowd of 2-3000 for League matches as well as the
fact that the match was televised live in Sydney made these figures very 
impressive. The Colombians had strong support from a crowd which bought out 
the majority of an entire bay, they would have numbered around 450 fans. There
were flags and banners of all sizes and the Birdman (Yes, the Birdman) was
there also. He also had a smaller apprentice birdman along for the ride. He 
was running around the crowd during the match but since he is not a member
of the SCG/SFS Trust (which costs $10,000) he was unable to hang off the edge
of the balcony of the upper level.
	The teams came out (about 5 minutes late) to an enormous roar. The
crowd stood for the anthems, and sang the Australian one to great effect.
The atmosphere is hard to describe. I felt the way I feel when 'You'll never
walk alone' is sung in unison at Anfield, when Lothar Matthaeus lifted the
World Cup, when Ned Zelic scored the 'miracle goal' against Holland in the
Olympic qualifier. It's these magic moments which translate well into TV, 
moments that make you proud and you feel like crying. However, this atmosphere
wasn't quite so spectacular in that sense. It was more like the camaraderie
the whole crowd (save for the Colombians perhaps) felt in supporting this
team of youngsters, a mix of anticipation, vocal support and patriotism. While
this would be an interesting study of crowd behaviour I will continue on with
the game itself.
	In my exhuberance I missed writing down the line up. This is a list
that was given on the morning of match day and should be fairly accurate.

Australia : Matassa (GK), Muscat (c), Moore, Juric, Wingell, Cranney, Tsekinis,
	    Carbone, Moric, Milicic, Agostino.
Coach     : Les Scheinflug

Colombia  : Velez (GK), Quintero, Tierradentro, Dinas, Ortegon, Betancourte,
            Florez, Perea, Mafla, Zambrano (c), Moreno.
Coach	  : Reynaldo Rueda

Referee	  : Kim Nielsen (Denmark)

	The game got under way before I knew it and the teams seemed evenly
matched at the beginning. The Colombians proving faster and showed great skill
in close passing. The Australians were playing a possession game and probably
tried too hard in the early stages. I think Anthony Carbone was especially
guilty often choosing to go on suicide runs and losing possession rather than
a prudent pass to his team mates. Once the 'testing period' ended I must admit
to being unable to see any clear advantage of one team over another. There 
often seemed to be breaks of promise by the Colombians but were usually cleaned
up by the Australian backs before things got hairy, Craig Moore and Kevin
Muscat deserve mention for this. While the Australians seemed slightly more 
dominant in the midfield they failed to feed the forwards due to some tight 
marking and errant passing. 
	Colombia broke the deadlock, though not entirely against the run of
play it was a little unexpected. Captain Henry Zambrano was forced wide after
a Colombian surge but managed a shot on a tight angle past a defender and
under the keeper. It was (I can admit it now) a very good goal after 36 minutes
of play. The crowd was taken aback, the colombian contingent belied their
numbers with thunderous approval. The colombian coach, who was very animated
and very entertaining before was beside himself now. He leapt in the air, 
shook his fists, held up his arms and spotting a camera in the vicinity 
kissed the insignia on his jacket. I was surprised he didn't slip the tongue 
but I am willing to forgive these antics as men of passion and attention 
seekers are often lacking in any real self control. There was a general 
worry in the crowd that perhaps the Australians had had their best part 
of the tournament and valour, not victory, was the real goal now.
	The Aussies, to their credit, fought back with renewed vigour and 
after a promising free kick failed to restore parity, went rather better in
the 39th minute. Peter Tsekenis went past some defenders, passed to Agostino
who in turn gave the ball to Milicic. Ante Milicic now faced with a bouncing
ball just inside the area and his back to goal, turned and swerved his shot
inside the right hand post. Keeper Daniel Velez was quite surprised and the
crowd went ballistic. I watched the highlights later that night and you don't
quite get the volume of the reponse but I was going deaf in a real hurry, not
to mention very hoarse. Ante pointed at the Colombian coach suggesting he
was less tolerant of his antics than myself and celebrated with his mates.
	The Aussies were proving that they not only talked the talk but they
walked the walk.
	Half time approached and the Referee who was having an excellent
match, and probably missed his calling in basketball (I heard they are looking
for more tall white boys), obliged with the whistle. Halftime gave the subs
a chance to train and the crowd to practise their renditions of 'Here we go'
and various 'Aussie' chants. The occasional wave was also a lot of fun.
This was definitely a world class match and what is more the Aussies were
looking like winners.
	The Restart saw the teams matched evenly still. Colombia showing
crisp passing skills, Australia with a high workrate on and off the ball
and showing great distribution skills. By the time 70 minutes had ticked over
Zambrano, showing cramp and fatigue was replaced and the Australians also
made changes gave Fabio Maccolino a go and took Marc Wingell off as well as
another change [again my apologies for not being able to be more accurate].
What is more The Yellow Cards were mounting up, by the end of the game
the count was 7-3, two of the three Australians were booked for dissent or
objecting to decisions. From memory all but one of the Colombians were booked 
for playing things other than the ball. It got to the stage where the crowd
saw the red card looming and often called for it on most fouls. It wasn't
forthcoming.
	Glory came in the 79th minute. After an injury to a Colombian, he
was in possession after fouling an Aussie and seemed to trip when he was
free. The referee saw it as a feign, and his refusal to let the colombian 
trainer onto the field brought the Colombian coach's antics to new highs.
The kick was taken with the player still lying on the ground [he did get
up alright afterwards which seems to indicate he let his team down by
persisting with the point after he lost the argument]. Darren Iocca [he was the
other Aussie sub I remember now] kicked the ball into the box from close
to the touchline, and Agostino headed onto the bar, having beaten everyone
else on the way. A Colombian defender tried to head the ball out but managed
only the lightest of glances. Kevin Muscat ran to the ball, hooked it back
towards the crowded goal mouth and buried the ball in the top of the net.
If the first goal brought the crowd to life this one whipped them into the
biggest frenzy you've ever seen. I jumped up and momentarily surpassed
Reynaldo Rueda in theatrics. There is a God and he's an Aussie :-)
There was even a flare released behind the Colombian goal, I have no idea
how they got it past the security.
	Sometime after that I managed to get on TV for about 1 second, it
came as a shock to me when I saw it on the TV that night. Famous at last,
I wonder if anyone will get the full feed. My Rellies in Germany might see
me.
	The Colombians fought hard to get back to level terms and only two
minutes from the end a wicked deflection almost robbed the Australians of
one of their two points. I bowed my head at the crucial moment but the ball
passed safely behind but only centimetres wide of an equaliser.
	The crowd knew when time was up, I on the other hand had lost track of
time entirely. The whistles still ring in my head and I must have been 
only one or two decibels within a perforated eardrum. The Referee, either 
because he was having similar problems to mine, or to avoid any attacks on
his life should Colombia equalise in time added on, blew an end to the game
just after 45 minutes. 2-1 Australia wins. Bring on the Russians.