TWENTY-SIX teams, 20-plus languages, every shade of inclement weather – and even some winter sun – lit up Melbourne's Royal Park for the opening round of the 2017 AFL International Cup on Sunday, with courage from all corners.
Reigning women's champions, the Canada Northern Lights, required a 'golden point' to earn their hard-fought victory over the Fiji Vonu. With scores level after the regulation 70 minutes, the clock ran another 10 minutes before Calgary Kookaburras star Hilary Perry soccered a behind to Canadian relief.
The dynamic Fijians, whose vocal entourage included a sign-language interpreter, played with passion and panache.
"Obviously we are upset with the loss, but I am so proud of the girls," said centre half-forward Sera Kaukiono, who kicked the first of two goals in the third quarter to give Fiji the lead.
"Our tackling and spoiling were brilliant and we are looking forward to playing Great Britain on Wednesday. It was very hard to get everybody here to the competition, but we have such a great spirit."
Around 850 non-Australian players have travelled to compete in the AFL International Cup through fundraising and sheer determination.
Although Melbourne is renowned for its rich tapestry of multiculturalism, on Sunday it was football that let off the brightest flares of carnival colour. Little and large, male and female, accomplished footballers and first-timers – all ran out side by side in their nation's guernseys.
Dancing, hymns and notable celebrations – the China Dragons were clearly best on ground in that department –provided a memorable opening stanza for the two-week tournament.
The Dragons had reason to celebrate. They pulled off the biggest coup of the round in men's division two with victory over the Croatia Knights, who hit back from a seemingly insurmountable deficit to within a single point in the final quarter.
For the men from Croatia, Germany and Sri Lanka, and the women from the European Crusaders, Great Britain, Pakistan and Papua New Guineau, Sunday represented their first taste of AFL International Cup footy and emotions ran high across all 14 matches in Parkville.
The Pakistan Shaheens in particular, who opened proceedings against the Great Britain Swans in the women's competition, set the tone for the round.
Asthma Khan, who at 160cm tall declared her favourite part of the game to be tackling, smiled all morning as she defended ferociously at full-back, while Abiha Haider instructed her teammates to "fight to the last second" in Pakistan's huddle before the last quarter – despite being down 110 points and still scoreless.
Pakistan's Bano Saliha handballs under pressure from British opponents. Picture: AFL Photos
Pakistan coach Michael Gallus heaped praise on his team and commended their 'shujaat' (courage), as he continued to practise Urdu in exchange for tactical nous.
On Sunday, the international language of Australian Football flourished as another 850 players wrote their names into the game's increasingly colourful folklore.
The teams have until Wednesday to recover sore bodies, with round two fixtures seeing them head out to school grounds across Victoria.
Go to AFL.com.au/internationalcup for scores, live streams of selected matches, feature stories and news from the tournament, and worldfootynews.com for reports on all matches.
