Australia gets Guusbumps, Harry Kewell outshines Harry Potter in Oz

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

Sydney, June 23 (UNI) Guus Hiddink looks like an author-backed character in an incredible fairytale and the Dutchman has triggered a soccer hysteria Down Under after the Socceroos, under their talismanic coach, made it to the last 16 in the FIFA World Cup.

Thanks to the Socceroos' exploit, star winger Harry Kewell is now more popular than Harry Potter in terms of internet searches and the players have been deluged by SMS messages of congratulations.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard, known otherwise as a cricket follower, said, ''Harry, well he is King Harry for all of us now and it was a fantastic performance.'' Up to 50 messages a minute were sent to the team in Germany following the 2-2 draw with Croatia, says Telstra while Fairfax websites have seen traffic go through the roof, with more than 10 million page impressions during the competition, including nearly 500,000 video views.

A Sydney Morning Herald headline screamed ''WE'VE GOT GUUSBUMPS!'' with a smiling Hiddink on the left and a fan on the right, sporting a t-shirt which reads ''In Guus we trust''.

The daily reported that FIFA has released a further 1500 tickets to Football Federation Australia but the vouchers would be available only in Stuttgart.

''With an estimated 60,000 Australians having made the trip of a lifetime to the 2006 World Cup, competition (for ticket) will be fierce,'' the report said.

The purchasers will join the 1000 Socceroo supporters who, in an early show of faith, purchased round two tickets in a previous FFA allocation.

Australia meets former champions Italy on June 27 in Kaiserslautern.

Hiddink's boys have earned admirers worldwide with their show in Germany.

''If Australia can provide this kind of entertainment, it's a pleasure to see them stay. Roll on the Azzuri. Let's see if the Aussie spirit can wake up the Italian passion,'' said fourfourtwo.com, a respected soccer website.

''Australia, galvanised by the coaching of Dutchman Hiddink, showed incredible tenacity to fight back from being behind twice in the match before 56,000 fans,'' said leading German newspaper Der Spiegel.

Meanwhile, Victoria has joined the campaign for Australia to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

UNI XC AY DH RK1718

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X