That Day in Stuttgart - the crowd

While Matt is soaking up some sun and enjoying the beaches in Thailand (until game-time at least), I thought I’d throw in my thoughts from the Croatia game from a fan perspective since I was lucky enough to be there.

I met a Canadian guy at a train station and we started up a conversation about the World Cup. As it happened he had a ticket he didn’t want for the Australia vs Croatia game - would I like it? We met the next day to take care of the transaction and come Thursday I was on the train from Berlin to Stuttgart, confident but nervous that the Aussies would be able to get a result against Croatia.

Arriving in Stuttgart and wandering out from the train station into the main pedestrian mall the place was already a zoo of Aussie and Croat supporters. Everyone was mixing well, wearing their colours, inflatable kangeroos everywhere. But there was some separation when groups banded together. Near FanFest a large group of Aussies had taken over a beer garden and were drinking beers out of litre jugs. They were singing and chanting but behaving themselves. About a block further up the Croatian fans had taken over an entire stairway and were singing and setting off flares. There was a lone Aussie right in the middle of all that - probably on a dare from his mates.

Finally it was game-time and there was a good vibe at the stadium. Fans from both teams were in good spirits and happily taking photos with each other. I heard my share of Croatian fans talking with Aussie accents too. Unlike the stadiums I’d seen on the TV so far in the World Cup and at the US vs Czech Republic game I’d been to, Stuttgart appeared to be full of fans rooting for one team or the other. There did not appear to be many neutrals and the crowd was almost evenly divided into gold and red/white. At the Aussie end the upbeat music from the sound system kept the Green & Gold Army bouncing up and down and in full voice. They were ready to have a good time.

I wondered how many of them were football fans and how many of them were Aussies from London who’d just made the trip cos Australia were playing in any kind of sport and it was a chance to go drink beer with a bunch of other Aussies. In typical Aussie crowd fashion, inflatable balls were produced and bounced around. When one was lost to the security staff over the barrier, chants of “Give us the ball back!” immediately rose up around the whole end of the stadium. German security were more laid back than cops at Aussie stadiums because 9 out of 10 times they gave the ball back - to raucous cheers from the crowd.

Once the game had kicked off I was impressed with the Green & Gold Army. The inflatable balls disappeared and everyone was focussed on the game. The singing and chants were kinda repetitive once they’d gone through their repetoire, but what do you expect from a nation that’s only recently embraced the Beautiful Game. Having said that, the volume was excellent and rivalled the strong Croatian contingent at the other end of the ground.

The crowd would play a huge part in this game and the Aussies did themselves proud - both in knowledge of the game and for never going quiet once during the entire 90 minutes. If we can get that kind of support against Italy, we’ll be halfway there already.