You always want to win. But there are nights when you lose and still walk away proud. Last night was one of those nights in Adelaide.
Adelaide United's game against Jeonbuk Motors (henceforth to be known as Kermit FC) was a game that made the business of being a fan worthwhile. It was one for the memory bank. Ninety minutes and ninety emotions and all that. Or 120 minutes and 120 emotions. It was a game that served as a foretaste of the smorgasbord waiting for us at the World Cup. It was a game that made fans proud.
For the 12,000 people at the ground, the game was a series of lows and highs and lows and highs and.... It was a night to scream at the players and for the players, a night filled with everything that football can give to those who love it. Another night that builds the mythology of a club.
We can talk about the mistakes, the refereeing, the sublime and substandard skills, the incredible goalkeeping, the tactical hits and misses, luck, linesmen - we can talk and talk. And we will. We'll dissect the loss in the light of day and we'll argue about what could and should have happened.
The talk will die away and what will be left is something that is priceless. The memory - the tattoo on the heart - of our team battling back against the odds and making us proud of them. The memory of another night at Hindmarsh where the comments flew from the stands and the jokes flew between fans and the Red crowd found one voice to lift their team to another effort.
Sydney and Melbourne fans who were at the Grand Final know what I mean. Socceroos fans who watched 'that' penalty shoot-out know what it means to be connected to a team and fellow supporters - even on your own in a living-room in front of a TV. We all hope we'll experience it again in the coming World Cup.
These are football nights. Nights like this.
We fell at the last but who ever thought we'd be there to fall? There's no shame. Just a growing sense that the A-League has a place in Asia and Australian football has once more stood tall against the financial and organisational might of the best of Asia.
For the parents out there it was a bit like watching your child run for school captain against the most popular kid in the school - and just getting pipped at the post. You wanted them to win but your heart is bursting with pride that they tried and came so close. You just love them more.
You see, we're getting there.
Remember six years ago when a night like tonight wasn't even a possibility? When Hindmarsh would have been almost empty? When the night was cold and there was no football to warm your heart.
Two 'newbies' came to the game with me tonight. They walked away raving about it. We lost - and we've won.
That's what happens on nights like this.
