As the sun rose on Edgeware Road in Sydney’s inner west, the gold that poured from the sky also spilled onto the streets of Enmore as hundreds of Socceroos fans exited the Golden Barley following Australia’s 2-0 loss to the United States.
Like most of Australia on Saturday morning, these fans were experiencing the collective comedown of a reality check after riding the high of a shock Socceroos win against Turkey six days earlier.
Much like their 4am alarms, the World Cup group loss was a rude wake-up call for fans – but most didn’t regret making the effort to be there, and will likely do so again when the Socceroos play Paraguay on Friday in San Francisco.
The party pies on offer were washed down with schooners of pale ale, and the doubt from this loss will probably be washed from their minds by the time kick-off arrives at midday on Friday.
That’s because Australia coach Tony Popovic – and his talented crop of players – have a way of making you believe. And as people pin-balled their way through the crowd when doors opened at 4.30am, they too believed a Socceroos win was possible, even if it was unlikely.
All four rooms of the Golden Barley were lined wall-to-wall with punters as screens blasted the match from warm-up to full-time.
For some, the day was just beginning. For others, the night before was just coming to an end.
Local Ruth Lindsay was somewhere in between.
“We were here last night because I’m the president of the Sydney Women’s Baseball League and this pub sponsors us. So we had an event here last night, and we were here until about 1am,” she said.
And still, with little sleep, Lindsay didn’t hesitate to get back up and do it all again.
“Well, to be honest, I live 10 minutes away, but I have a campervan. I parked it up the road, left here at 1am, walked up the road and slept in the camper,” Lindsay said.
“I came back down at 4.45am.”
It was mixed emotions in the back room of the Barley as US fan Emily Nabong watched with her Australian friends.
“I was looking around [for other USA fans]. I didn’t find any. But when I was in the bathroom, some of the ladies said, ‘You’re brave’,” Nabong said.
She was in better spirits than friend Tom Stelzer, who was feeling the sting of a Socceroos defeat come full-time.
“The vibe was good, it’s always great to see so many people out this early in the morning – we could barely get a seat, and we were here just after it opened at 4.30am,” Stelzer said.
“In terms of the game, a bit disappointing, especially after the first game against Türkiye. I thought we came into a bit better in the second half, but I don’t really think we deserved to take anything away.
“But you live and you learn, and it sets us up nicely for the last game. Still quite hopeful, I think. We have a good chance. If we get a result against Paraguay, then we probably go through, and I think we can do it. I think they will learn a lot from the game today.”
Get across our World Cup coverage
- As it happened: Socceroos lose 2-0 to USA despite late fightback in Seattle
- Player ratings: Should have hit the target: We rate every Socceroos player
- On the ground: Seattle’s only Aussie pub in World Cup mode
- Opinion: How the World Cup exceeded expectations in its first week
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Billie Eder is a sports reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.
