As a kid, Mathew Leckie wanted to play Australian Rules football.
Aged 11, he switched schools in Melbourneâs inner west and joined his mates playing soccer.
Aged 15, he watched the Socceroos at the 2006 World Cup and that was it, and it was soccer.
Aged 31 now, Leckie hopes kids watching him and his Socceroos teammates at the World Cup have similar light bulb moments.
âYou watch the telly and you see the atmosphere,â Leckie told reporters.
âHow big the World Cup is could be just one of those things that clicks in their heads and says âI want to be a footballer rather than an AFL playerâ.
âThe World Cup and the Socceroos really bring the nation together.
âWhen I was younger growing up in an AFL environment with my family, one thing that did bring my family to follow football was the national team and the World Cup.â
Leckie said the current batch of Socceroos were motivated by emulating the feats of their 2006 predecessors, the only Australian team to reach the knockout stages at a World Cup.
âWhen the Socceroos got out of the group in â06, I was a proud fan,â he said.
âAnd now we have the opportunity to be players and do that.
âWe can create something special, as the â06 team did.
âBut in saying that, the other day when we got our result and won (against Tunisia), the first thing that was said was we havenât really done anything because thereâs still another game to go.
âAnd without another result it will mean nothing.â
Steve Larkin
(Australian Associated Press)
