Fifa World Cup: Australian fans proud of their team’s heroic fight against Messi’s Argentina

Hugely outnumbered by the passionate Argentine fans, the Australian supporters were pushed to one small pocket of the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium during the World Cup round of 16 clash on Saturday.

But the Aussie fans came out with smiles on their faces, having just witnessed their team put up a mighty fight against Lionel Messi’s Argentina.

For the record, Argentina had won the contest 2-1.

But what the scorecard would never tell you is how Australia fought until the end against their technically superior opponent.

Despite taking a two-goal lead through Messi and Julian Alvarez, Argentina were kept on their toes by these Australians.

The match was poised on a knife-edge after Craig Goodwin's long-range effort was deflected in by Enzo Fernandez in the 77th minute.

However, Argentina refused to sit back as the South Americans produced a scintillating passing game deep in the second half with Messi at the heart of all their scorching attacks.

Lautaro Martinez even missed a sitter to give Argentina a two-goal cushion following a magical run from Messi.

The Australians, though, produced moments of their own with Garang Kuol getting a golden chance in the 97th minute to take the game into extra time only to be denied by Argentina’s goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

Nevertheless, the Australian fans would now return home with memories of their team going toe-to-toe with Messi’s Argentina.

“It’s devastating to see them go out, but if you told me a few months ago that Australia was going to the round of 16 with Argentina, and that we were only going to lose 2-1, I would not have told you that you are right,” Ryan, an Australian fan who has travelled from Sydney, told this reporter.

“Honestly, I didn’t like Argentina for some of their time wasting. We could have equalised, but our team played so well. We are very proud of this Australian team. We will continue to back our team in the future.”

This was Australia’s only second appearance in the knockout stages of a World Cup.

Ryan believes Australia’s performance in Qatar where they stunned Denmark in their final group game, will inspire his country to perform even better at the World Cup in future.

“I think it’s only going to go upwards and above. In the future World Cups, we are going to be even better,” he said.

“We have got a pretty young squad at the moment. Hopefully, the lads will continue to improve and we will bring in some more talented lads. Maybe in future, we can go even further.”

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