It was the 2000 World Club Championships - now known as the FIFA Club World Cup - where the unknown Aussie part-timers represented Oceania back then (before FFA moved into AFC a few years later). 

The wide-eyed South boys were pitted against Beckham’s Manchester United (also featuring new interim Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and our own Bozza), Brazil’s Vasco Da Gama and Mexico’s Necaxa in the group stage. 

Real Madrid, Corinthians, Al-Nassr and Raja Casablanca rounded out the global Rio extravaganza as champions from each confederation met. 

It was another world for Australia’s part-time NSL champions, but a golden opportunity to show the football world we could hold our own. And we did. Just. 

Beckham. Bosnich, Raul, Romario, Anelka, Panopoulos?

Steve Panopoulos, Michael Curcija, Chris Jones, Steve Iosifidis, South were hardly household names when they landed at Rio airport. 

But the Aussies left with a modicum of respect after three battling performances at the legendary Maracana Stadium saw them lose three times but never by the cricket score some had predicted.

Postecoglou’s airtight five-man defensive bulwark held out Vasco De Gama for almost 70 minutes in the opener before Edmundo and Romario (who were feuding at the time) did the business in front of 66,000. 

South Melbourne’s appearance came courtesy of being Oceania Champions – a title that saw them venture to the football wilds of Fiji to qualify.

But it was South’s passport to their biggest day in the sun – and they were there to enjoy it on and off the park.

One of the byproducts of this visit was that tenacious midfielder Steve Panopoulos (known by all as “Pana”), met a local girl, ended up moving to Rio – and he’s remained ever since.

He’s now become a well-respected agent who helped bring some of the best Brazilian talents to the A-League over the years (including Victory's Fred, an A-League player of the year). 

Panopoulos, a part-time player at the time (he was working in a laboratory running blood tests) relived his memories of this once in a lifetime opportunity.

“For me, the memories are a little clouded because I live here now. So I see the Maracana Stadium every week,” he told FTBL.

“The one thing I remember is going to the stadium for our first game. Traffic stopped and we realized it was the opposition fans from Vasco jumping up, hitting the windows, threatening us. I couldn’t believe what I saw.

“Running out on the ground was another highlight.

“We held our own against Vasco. We were very well coached and set up structured for the game. But technically and physically they were far superior. But we weren’t full time.

"Maybe A-League teams would’ve bridged that gap a bit.

“A couple of years later I trained with a Brazilian team for about five months. I realised then the physical preparedness and technical awareness.

“But for us, it kind of fell out of the blue sky into our laps. All of a sudden, go to Fiji and play a little Oceania tournament and you could be playing at Maracana Stadium against Manchester United.

"It was surreal.”

South trained at Fluminense’s ground. With 4000 fans able to be seated to watch, they had their own gym, tennis club, swimming pool.

“In Melbourne, we only used to train at night after work,” added Panopoulos.  “I remember Ange went over for the draw and he came back saying, ‘You guys have got no idea what we’re getting into here.’

“I remember it was a corner against Vasco and my mate Steve Iosifidis and I we were in the box and I was making sure we were marking up and turned  to Steve, ‘You got Edmundo?’ and he said “Yeah, you got Romario?’ because Romario was short.

“Just after the ball was cleared we kinda looked at each other as if to say, ‘Is this really happening?’. ‘Are we really saying this’. Surreal. We couldn't believe what we were saying.

“It was hard to come back to Australia...”

He did, but during the tournament, Panopoulos kept in touch with the girl he met out there.

“About six months later I returned because I wanted to get to know the country and we caught up again and one thing leads to another and we headed back to Oz – and two years later we married.

“In 2004 our son was born, the NSL wound down and the A-League hadn’t started so we went back for a holiday for six months.

“So one thing leads to another and I kinda got mixed up in football over here and I’m still here and living here.”

Each South Melbourne player has his own special memories.

Defender Richie Alagich remembered the tournament with great fondness. 

"An awesome experience," he recalls. "I think a few underestimated in that elite company how good we were as a footballing team.

"To experience from a different culture and especially Brazil what it means to the people there, is something I’ll never, ever forget.

"We had police escorts to the ground on the bus. And Australians they’re supposed to be liked and thought of as nice people, but this showed me then what it meant to the Vasco fans.

"They were running at the bus, putting fingers up at us, screaming at us. They didn’t care, they just wanted to do anything for Vasco to help them win the game.

"So that’s a real eye-opener and then you realise what football means to people there.

"The first inclination we got was when we were in the changing rooms.

"Man Utd were playing before us and all you could hear was this loud, shuddering roar of the fans jumping up and down above you in the stadium.

"That would’ve been good enough but then when you walked out we got goose-bumps.

"We flew in at night but just to finally be there after such a long trip. It finally hit home what we were there for.

"Probably everyone was down at Man Utd’s hotel but we always had armed guards walking around. It wasn’t real noticeable but it was one of those places you really didn’t know what to expect but it exceeded all my expectations.

"What we achieved I don’t think it was valued, the enormity of what we’d done. I mean, that Vasco team had five players who’d played in a World Cup final. And they had a young Juninho.  Some squad.

"We weren’t overawed. By losing 2-0 it showed Australian football was not too far off."

Seeing the likes of Beckham up close was another eye-opener. 

"We’d only seen him on TV. And it’s not quite the perception you really see. He worked so hard off the ball with runs, working to help his teammates, you don’t necessarily see it.

"The workrate was phenomenal. And it was nice and simple, get it and lay it off. That’s when you realise what a great player he is.

"Necaxa was very, very impressive. They had a couple of Ecuadorians from the World Cup, I think Augistin Delgado and the other was captain of Ecuador. And three or four from the Mexican national team.

"We had a solid,five-man defence and four across the middle with one striker. We realized we couldn’t compete so we just made sure to make it as hard as possible.

"And then we knew we could create a few chances with Paul Trimboli and Michael Curcija." 

John Anastasiadis scored South's only goal of the tournament in a 3-1 loss to Necaxa. United and Vasco both defeated South 2-0. 

And for Panopoulos, he's still there. Doing deals and driving past the Maracana like it's the Bolte Bridge.