Western Sydney Wanderers team celebrates with the Premiers Plate Picture: Porteous Gregg Source: The Daily Telegraph
WHO do we sing for has become the soundtrack for the most remarkable story in Australian sport.
The Red and Black Bloc and their football team, the Western Sydney Wanderers, will march to Allianz Stadium this Sunday for the grand final.
If they bring just half of the atmosphere from Parramatta Stadium on Friday night, when they defeated Brisbane Roar, it will be a magical occasion: the perfect end to the greatest A-League season yet.
The Wanderers will take on the winner of today's match between the Central Coast and Melbourne Victory.
With no NRL matches scheduled and the Swans playing on Friday night, the A-League will have the Sydney sporting stage to themselves.
It shows how far we've come. At its best, no game has the same theatre, tribal passions and character of football.
The Wanderers are the perfect example of what happens when everyone buys into the same dream. The players refer to the club as a family and the fans have created this heaving, raucous atmosphere that sweeps everyone along with it.
The fans, with their constant chanting and singing - the energy they create for their team - have played such a tangible role in this fairytale.
It has lifted the club to so many victories and it was there in the second half on Friday night, when Brisbane Roar were coming to get them.
Can this really be a team built from the dying embers of the Gold Coast?
In 12 months, they have built a culture and tradition that has snowballed and if they win this Sunday, you can see them challenging Melbourne Victory as the biggest club in the land over the next year or two.
The obvious question is how did we ignore western Sydney, this hotbed of football emotion and talent, for so long.
There is only one more page left to be written. Can they add the championship to their Premiers' Plate. I say why not?
To be the champions, you must beat the champions - and that's what the Wanderers did to the Roar. In the end, it was a moment of pure magic from Shinji Ono that cemented the grand final berth.
Shinji Ono celebrates scoring Western Sydney's goal. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: The Daily Telegraph
His vision and left foot chip to beat Roar keeper Michael Theo ranks as one of the greatest A-League goals.
People were immediately comparing it to Eric Cantona's famous goal for Manchester United against Sheffield United. It was that good.
Alessandro Del Piero, as one of the giants of world football, dominated headlines and was a huge addition to the A-League. However, Ono has been just as impressive.
Can you believe he was written off in Japan as being too old?
Tony Popovic built his team on hard work, grit, a relentless work ethic and never-say-die attitude. They are all commendable attitudes, but they only get you so far.
Poppa knew he needed someone who could sprinkle a little stardust over it and he called Ono on the eve of the season. It was a masterstroke.
The one problem for the Wanderers is the needless red card picked up by Youssouf Hersi against the Roar, which rules him out of the grand final. He is a major loss.
Statistics show that when Hersi plays, the Wanderers win and there are good reasons for that.
Hersi and Ono provide much of their counterattack, the springboard for a team that sits back, concedes possession and then looks to pounce.
The Dutchman was the best player on the park in the first half on Friday night.
His all-action approach harassed the Roar and he was always a threat; he just needs to know when to pull back at times.
Today's match between the Mariners and Victory pits the two best A-League coaches against each other.
Graham Arnold and Ange Postecoglou have built quite a rivalry over the years and this should be another cagey contest.
The Victory have a high-powered attack led by Marco Rojas and Archie Thompson.
It makes them a huge danger to any opponent. The Mariners, though, are such a well-balanced and professional team. Their game stands up to pressure and they are at home, which is why I'm tipping them to win a tight match.
Whether the Wanderers face the Victory or Mariners, what a grand final it promises to be at a packed-out Allianz Stadium.
It will be loud, it will be brilliant and it will be dramatic. It will be everything we all knew football could be.
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