So there was a big sporting event over the weekend.

Yes, there was. And it wasn't the Superbowl.

It was some proper football. Where people use a ball and their feet. Not hand-egg, as 2K1Toaster brilliantly described the other sport.

It was the Asian Cup Final. And I went! I took my daughter.

The stadium was full - 76,300 in the crowd, plus 8,000 or so dignitaries, media, corporates and other people who'd blagged their way in. I'd say more than 10,000 of the crowd was Korean, and the rest were, unsurprisingly, Australian. The atmosphere was brilliant, and we had a fantastic night.

And we won. Which helped, obviously.

I'm not sure which of these will work and which will be geoblocked, so I'll attach links to a few highlights packages.

Minute-by-minute text commentary (read from the bottom):
Asian Cup final: Australia 2-1 South Korea (aet) – as it happened | Football | The Guardian
There's also a good 4-minute video highlight package there.

Another text report with video highlights
Socceroos take Asian Cup from South Korea with extra-time winner

And a couple of just video packages

A 20-minute one if you have time on your hands:

And a 3-minute one if you don't.

The crowd were great. The atmosphere was fantastic. And the game itself was incredibly tight and extremely exciting. It was a perfect introduction to football for my daughter. She got very into the World Cup on TV last year. And she really enjoyed going to Uzbekistan v N Korea and Australia v Oman this month. But for her to be there watching Australia win its first-ever major trophy with a capacity crowd was really very special. She's been talking about it ever since. And so, if I'm honest, have I.

Oh, and here are a couple of pictures from where we were sitting (these are just random crowd shots - I've kept my daughter out of these ones, obviously.)

 

How can they be patriots? They're named after a place that's named after a country that its residents betrayed!

New England Insurgents would have been a better name.

Surely if you're choosing the colonoscopy for speed, you'd be better off with soccer than American football? 90 minutes vs, what, five hours?

This is why I have never understood the appeal of cricket. 5 days is ridiculous for a game.

 

I don't have my citizenship yet: if I get time, I'm going to do the test this year. I do worry that the fact that I don't like cricket will count against me. That, combined with the fact that I don't like tomato sauce on my pies, may, I think, lead to an automatic fail.

 

Ah, yes. Those long commercial breaks are definitely the key to American football's success.

The final stages of the Asian Cup were actually shown on free-to-air, State-run television with no commercial breaks. Hard to believe, I know.

I know soccer is very popular with kids in America. My best friend from school lives in LA, and has two young sons who seem to spend their entire lives playing soccer. My friend got dragged in to coach because he's British and knows the rules. However, this got awkward for him when Cruz Beckam joined the team. He'd ask my friend for advice, and my friend would say "ummm..... Maybe you should ask your Dad."

 

Your son is right.

And yes, it was a lovely, positive experience for my daughter.

I grew up supporting Celtic, who were, at the time, quite good. The first game I ever went to was when I was about five or six. We were playing St Mirren, who, at the time, were crap (they still are). St Mirren won 4-1. I cried so much on the bus back from the game that I threw up. So I'm glad she didn't have to go through that.

 

Depending on how old your son is, and on what your attitude is to swearing in films (the Dutch coach swears a fair bit), you might want to watch "Next Goal Wins" with your son.

It's a documentary about American Samoa, the worst national football team in the world (they lost 31-0 to Australia), and its attempts to become not the worst team in the world. It really takes you back to what football - and sport as a whole - should be about. It's incredibly inspiring, and carries a fantastic message.

I assume it's available on Netflix and stuff in the US: I saw it on a plane. It looks like it's available on iTunes and Google Play.

Honestly, it's probably my favourite documentary ever. The official film website is Home | NEXT GOAL WINS.