FNH

My favourite game: Australia v Israel, World Cup qualifier 1989 | Richard Parkin

04-Apr-2020 22:00:10 | The Guardian

The Socceroos missed out on qualification for a fourth successive time but the combustible game in Sydney left an indelible mark on this writer

Growing up in country Australia, football was never likely to be my passion. Ricky Walford. Brandy Alexander. Chicka Ferguson. An unshakeable loathing for the maroon of Queensland. These were my heroes, my abiding memories from childhood.

Mum took one look at me: giraffe-neck, scrawny as a pencil, all elbows and kneecaps, and signed me up for Moree Hot Bread Shop football team. I probably cried at the injustice of it but a few games in, sideline adulation turned me around.