CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
The 42nd ranked Socceroos are going to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after confirming a place in Group D early this morning.
It was a nail biter finish to our fifth straight finals appearance, with Australia eventually taking out the second last spot available after defeating Peru on penalties.
Costa Rica and New Zealand are now bidding to become the final team to qualify, when they meet in their intercontinental playoff in Doha on Wednesday morning AEST.
While Australia stares down a World Cup pool alongside reigning champions France, merely qualifying has been met with hysterical cheers right across the country, as the nation’s closeted soccer fans emerge from a nuclear winter that has lasted since 2005.
The celebrations kicked off at full time with ABC’s sports reporter Tony Armstrong joining in on the revelry with punters who were watching on the big screen down at Melbourne’s Federation Square, and pinballed through soccer households in flight path suburbs throughout the nation.
One proud round ball man that is perhaps cheering louder than most is Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has experienced a wave of rare victories since the Federal Election vote counting began at 6pm on May 21st.
As the first Australian leader of Mediterranean heritage, Albanese was reportedly stoked to see yet another Australian multicultural institution like the Socceroos snatch victory from the jaws of defeat this morning.
As an Italian-Australian who spent his upbringing walking in both worlds, the Prime Minister couldn’t help but lean into his Southern European roots while watching the dying minutes of the exhilarating Soccer World Cup qualifier.
At 8am today, ACT Emergency Services responded to reports of a combustible device being activated in the office of the Prime Minister.
While Parliament House staff confirm that guns were drawn as the kicked in the door to Albanese’s office, the initial panic surrounding national security were quickly dismissed as nothing more than ‘a very Italian celebration’ – after it was confirmed the Prime Minister had let off an emergency flare at full time.
When asked for comment on this incident, the Prime Minister began chanting ‘Po po po po po po po” to the riff of the White Stripe’s iconic Italian soccer anthem ‘Seven Nation Army’.
