Tried to get Carl to write this entry, given that he is the self-confessed football expert in our relationship. But no luck - he's convinced no one would want a tactical analysis of the Aussie v Croatia game and that, he says, is all he's capable of. If you were in Stuttgart after the game you would have been treated with a blow by blow account of all the best and worst bits - a treat, I can tell you. However, you weren't. And my pleas are falling on deaf ears. Maybe some peer pressure from you all might do it ... In the meantime, you'll just have to settle for my ramblings about an experience that's up there with some of the best of our travels! 
Craig Moore's spectacular penalty!
It's not often that I am lost for words, but its a struggle to find the right ones to describe how amazing it was to watch the Aussies take on Croatia in Stuttgart. Phenomonal. Intense. Crazy. The atmosphere in the stadium was better than anything I've ever experienced. The game was better than we could have hoped for and the crowd, fan-bloody-tastic.
Carl turns into a crazy man
The Aussie supporters were brilliant. We've even managed to come up with a few of our own chants. Thankfully, it seems Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi is all but obsolete, replaced with some hilarious alternatives. My fav: "who let the roos out? Guus Guus Guus Guus!". Don Carlos did his Aussie passport proud for the weekend. Yep, he wore green and gold. He cheered as loud as any other aussie supporter, and he didn't dare mention the ol' chilli-bin. It was an esky all the way, mate. In fact, all of the aussie supporters went all out, a few even braved full kangaroo suits in the 30+ degree heat.
Our seats at the match were firmly in the Aussie corner. Behind us four young guys screamed their hearts out for the entire match. An old dude to Carl's left tried to play it cool but we knew he was hooked when we heard him scream, "auf wiedersehen, you bunch of tea towels". Never have I heard the national anthem sung so loudly or so proudly. It was rivaled only by the shouts of 'bullshit' at the many suspect calls of the ref,Graham Pole (who is even being disowned by his countrymen in pommyland). And when the socceroos did a lap of honour after snatching the draw from the croats, the aussie crowd really went off ... we spent at least an hour in the stadium after the game singing, dancing and generally going a bit bonkers.
The socceroos take a well-earned lap of honour
It was a socceroo, however, who took the prize for the most Aussie Aussie in the stadium - Archie Thompson, with energy to burn after spending the entire world cup campaign on the bench, could not resist rockin' out to AC/DC: he grabbed a corner flag, gave it his best air guitar and took the chorus home using the flag as his microphone. Noice one, Archie, noice one.
Check out the rest of our photos here.
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