My World Cup Experience

[EdDog]

He lives!

[Stuckey]

For those not on Facebook.

[EdDog]

Which one is Nash?

[sevengoals]

He lives!

Hallelujah!

[shinAUFC]

Take down the Missing posters, he has left us some virtual bread crumbs lol

[EdDog]

SG did you edit my post lol? I didn't write that second bit

[sevengoals]

SG did you edit my post lol? I didn't write that second bit

Sorry I thought I was answering your question.
He is the second from the left.

[EdDog]

All good, didn't know what was happening

[ChillyPhilly]

It was awesome seeing Nash all over the AU fb page! WATR reppin'!

[Nash]

Haha loved the posts lads, and the concern! Thank you and sorry!

But yes gentlemen, I am alive!

But only barely lol. The past few weeks have been exhausting to say the least! The Group Stage took its toll on me, completely worth it, but I'm not sure I want to see a plane or airport ever again Happy to have things settle down a bit now and be able to spend more then a night or two in each city I visit - glad to be back enjoying the country around me Time has not been on my hands, nor has Internet with the masses of people here trying to use it too!

To be honest I'm not even quite sure where to start I'll start with general observations - before the Cup started the mood I felt around the county wasn't all that joyful... At times slightly hostile... Since the Cup has begun, that has all seemed to change! Most people are happy and more than willing to help out Including extensive conversations in Portuguese that I can not understand most of lol. And even when I say that I do not understand, they insist on getting their point across - all with smiles Australians have been welcomed with open arms, including people wanting photos in the streets - especially young children lol. And after our display on the field (minus most of the Spain match) we have earned the respect of many Brazilians - including jokes of swapping Fred for Cahill with us Many Brazilians have said that if we were luckier in the group draw, we would of progressed

The stadiums have been magnificent - with my personally visited favourites being Cuiaba's or Brasilia's... Brasilia's was jaw dropping, simply stunning. Cuiaba's had a lot of character and I loved the grass hills in the corners.

The Chile match was so much fun - nothing but love and excitement shared between the two sets of fans. Although the Chile supporters were incredibly arrogant before the match - acting as if they would absolutely demolish us.. Wish I could of gone to the game with such confidence rather then an underlying feeling of absolute fear lol. But, us Aussies sang loud and proud, even after going down 2-0 within 20 minutes... I felt sick to my stomach, not sure what to expect for the next 70... So when Timmy climbed high, the atmosphere was electric and the Chilean supports were dead silent until their late 3rd goal It hurt, but pride filled my blood and the vibe of happy times between the two fans continued into the night The people of Cuiaba were fantastic too - I had been warned by other Brazilians of the city's unsafe nature, but all locals seemed to be backing Australia for the win so they were just excited to have us there! Within an hour of being in the city 3 different locals wanted to help us get to where we needed to be! And I lost count of how many cars saw us and slowed down just to give us the thumbs up or peace sign or yell out "Australia" with a huge smile A day I will treasure for a very long time! And I could tick a World Cup match off of my bucket list!

The Netherlands match was even harder to swallow... To have had the lead... To have played so well... To have Leckie not put away that chance and then Ryan butcher a save down the other end on the counter... I'm sure everyone back home knows exactly how I felt... On the plus side - Timmy's spanker! I was down the other end on the side line but was lined up perfectly behind him as he lined up and put it away - just wow! I like the word line lol That goal was the talk of Brazil for the rest of the week! Anytime I told someone I was Australian, the next response was Cahill's name Made the loss easier to take... Only slightly tho. My match day experience was a unique one, and another to be treasured! I did not interact with any Dutch fans outside of those sitting around me (they were basically silent except for their 1st goal celebrations and 3rd goal celebrations - in between they were nervous!) bcoz I attended the match with Brazilians Cow and I home stayed with a Brazilian friend I met in Germany (will write more on this below) so we road tripped to Porto Alegre with my friend Mauricio, his father Antonio and a best mate of his Gabriel. Mauricio and Gabriel got tickets in expectation of our arrival, and we got Antonio a ticket as a present of thanks 3 hour road trip there, 2 hour back, got the local bus with them, watched the match with them... It was something special... Mauricio wearing the Socceroos jersey I gave him as a present with pride

So yes that is indeed me second from the left Mauricio, Me, Juventude midfielder Fabricio and my mate Cow on the right. I met Mauricio in Berlin in 2011 and we quickly established our connection through our clubs - Juventude being Rech's first and home club We hit it off from there, with him inviting me to stay with him during the 2014 World Cup I'm happy to say I was able to take him up on this offer!! We stayed in touch over Facebook, and when I stepped off that coach bus it was as if time had not past A bloke I have only spent 5 days with in the flesh, but a bloke I can call a true friend for life He lives in Caxias do Sul, north of Porto Alegre, where his family and friends embraced us as their own Words can't do justice to how good an experience this was! A highlight definitely being an invitation to visit the Juventude stadium and club! A club rich with 101 years of history! They have had a lot of success in their time, but juniors are their main focus - having many names come through. They currently have 800 youth players on their books right now They had a very impressive trophy room to say the least.. You could sense the pride as you walked around. Unfortunately we visited on a public holiday so Rech was not there But a great experience even still

Included in those names that have come up through their ranks is none other then Melbourne Victory's Gui Finkler!! Which is a crazy story in itself.. When Mauricio first picked us up off the bus he said he was trying to get us tickets for the Spain match - a top fucking bloke! He said he was calling his friends cousin, Gui Finkler.. "Have you heard of him? He plays in Australia".. "Gui Finkler?? From Melbourne Victory?? Are you telling me that THE Gui Finkler is trying to get me tickets to Australia vs Spain right now?!" LOL mind blown!! What's even crazier, we parked the car at the Porto airport and bused to the stadium from there - in the distance I saw Victory shirts, one with Finkler on the back. I pointed it out and said "see man, he is loved and respected very much in Australia" - Mauricio responded in his broken English "ah yes, Gui" which sounds more like Gee in Portuguese pronunciation... Turns out he was standing right there! The person wearing the shirt was Finkler's father A Victory man but a great guy and player I respect. We went up and had a chat, Mauricio says "do you want a photo?", I said "I guess, why not?" Lol which probably didn't help my chances for a ticket! We chatted for a bit, talked about our clubs rivalry to my Brazilian entourage, we took his number and he said I can't promise it but i'll try - which was more than he had to do in the first place! (I don't know if news has broken in Aus yet but he said he got a 2 year extension at Victory). He said to call at 6pm tomorrow and would try and get player family tickets who did not make the trip - was hoping he'd ask Dario, Leckie or Eug to increase our chances lol. We called for the next 4 nights, him saying to keep calling back as he was still trying. Unfortunately on the last night he stopped answering our calls lol - showed his true Victory colours - but I was grateful for him trying at least

We travelled to Curitiba anyways in hope of finding Spain tickets - along with a shit load of other Australians doing the same. But, after a long story cut super short, WE DID IT! Cow got a spare ticket at face value from some lovely Guatemalans and I got mine from some Glory lads from Perth - cost me a bit but better then the $1,000 USD that a bunch of Spanish people where trying to get!! The match was difficult to watch, but the atmosphere was still good - until the 3rd goal at least. Happy to say I attended all three group matches though And to watch players of such calibre in the Spanish squad was a pleasure and joy. Ended up chatting to the Brazilians next to me for most of the second half

The last match we attended was Portugal vs Ghana, a match with so much promise yet such little delivery. With Portugal needing 5 goals to progress and Ghana 2, you'd think they would both play with intent.. Instead they played majority of the match too scared to concede that they rarely looked like scoring (although the Ghana keeper did make some great saves to deny Christiano Ronaldo about 5 solid chances). I was surprised by the amount of long balls that seemed like hit an hope passes... Still, I've seen a Ronaldo goal in the flesh nothing of quality lol, but I have! The Bahraini referee I think was poor... I like a ref letting a match flow, but he let SO many fouls go, TOO many. It was a rough match... Honestly wouldn't be surprised if he had money on the US progressing! Even as a neutral I was angered by many of the decisions.

Gonna leave it there for a bit lol - plenty to read I'll put a bunch of photos up to share once I'm home in 3.5 weeks

If you have questions, please ask It's hard to recall such a hectic 3 weeks!! Lol

Again, thanks for the concern lads, feeling the love

[ChillyPhilly]

Wow. Epic is all I can say. We thought Adelaide was small with everyone knowing everyone, but Gui Finkler being the one trying to get tickets is a story in itself!

[sevengoals]

Super!
Thank you very much Nash.
Welcome back to the forum.

[Nash]

Thank you

Can't wait to share photos with you guys! We're using Cow's Sony Xperia for a camera (top quality) and then storing the pics on a USB as we go along - transferred straight to the USB from the phone. It's hard to get pics off, and they're not in order for some lame reason, so once I sort them at home I'll share with you lot!

Currently I am in Paraty (on the coast between São Paulo and Rio), a little port town surrounded by mountains of jungle and full of old colonial buildings - the best place to chill after the hectic group stage! Tourists galore but it's not crowded whatsoever. The place is picturesque and has a relaxed vibe Yesterday we hiked 30 minutes to an ocean rock pool, today we are beach kayaking

[shinAUFC]

Absolutely amazing Nash!!

IMO its one thing to have seen Australias WC group games but your experiences are something that is completely unique to you and money just cannot buy.

I think football is one of the best reasons to travel as it almost always throws up some uncanny coincidences and is a huge ice breaker when meeting new people.

So jealous!

Ive seen pics of people taking photo's of bus stops that has Suarez's and Nike advertisements on it. People are pretending he is biting their head off haha. Seen any of that ?

So you will be home in time to see the AUFC vs Malaga game on the 25th ?

[Nash]

Yea definitely man, everyone's World Cup journey is different and unique to them So many days I'll look back on with a smile and I think "remember when that happened?!" - especially a night of partying in Argentina, where we were told it was a party bus tour... But seemed more like a guy from Paraguay taking some foreigners across the brazil-Argentina border in his van to have enough money for the prostitute he brought with us! Lol. It really was a top night though, they were both lovely lol (even through the language barrier) and we had 2 awesome people from Belgium with us for the ride!

Brazil is definitely the best away trip I've done! Outside of our 1-4 win at AAMI Park of course!

The guys from Perth that I got my Spain ticket from got caught up in trouble in São Paulo a few days ago - they ended up getting tear gassed :/ Not sure on the whole story tho... Glad I'm not returning to São Paulo, was not a city I enjoyed... Was our home base for the Group Stage, kept most of our luggage their and flew in and out of it to the the rest of the country with day packs. It's farken massive, and lacks character outside of its true concrete jungle appearance - in my experience anyway.

Haha nah haven't seen that! Bus shelters don't really exist like that where I've been travelling most. Post up a pic if you can find one! My mate Cow was outraged at the bite so will have a good laugh - he was calling for a life ban! I have seen the Jurassic Park and JAWS photoshops though, they're classic lol.

I will be in the state, but not sure if I'll be in Adelaide itself though :/ my girlfriend is in charge when I get back for the first two days, and I'm pretty sure we are escaping the city for a bit! I think we get back on Saturday... One day more and I could of made it! I am devo, but after pissing off for two months for a football tournament, I don't want to try my luck at asking to come back early from a retreat for another football match!! Haha