Asian Cup 2015 Opener: Australia 4, Kuwait 1 After Poor Start by Hosts · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Rectangular stadium Melbourne – Courtesy flickr user Princess Purple (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Australia has defeated Kuwait 4-1 in the opening game of the Asian Cup 2015 at Melbourne's rectangular stadium.
When Kuwait scored early in the game, some Socceroos fans were ready to blame the coach Ange Postecoglou:
#SackAnge #GoSocceroos #AUSvKUW #AC2015
— RunnaLittle (@RunnaLittle) January 9, 2015
After veteran Tim Cahill evened up, Aussies on the #AC2015 Twitter hashtag became more optimistic:
GOAL! @Tim_Cahill levels it! AUS 1 KUW 1 (33′) #AUSvKUW
— Socceroos (@Socceroos) January 9, 2015
Looks like Australia is a football nation afterall. Beautiful scenes in Melbourne for the #AC2015. #AUSvKUW
— John Smith (@sydneyfcinsider) January 9, 2015
By half time, some humour had emerged amongst sports fans. One tennis fan tweeted:
Roger Federer was in a hurry beating Duckworth, must be keen to watch the 2nd half of Socceroos vs Kuwait #BrisbaneTennis #AUSvKUW #AC2015
— Wahyu (@thewahaman) January 9, 2015
During the break, the account Open Stadiums captured an aspect of the sport where there isn't an even playing field, namely women's participation:
We appreciate any act of solidarity with Iranian women football fans during @afcasiancup #AC2015 pic.twitter.com/ZODiXojxRF
— OpenStadiums (@openStadiums) January 9, 2015
Meanwhile after recent extreme temperatures, Melbourne was putting on a more traditional wet welcome:
Lights at @AAMIPark are green & gold after the 4-1 win #GoSocceroos #AC2015 #AUSvKUW
— Dave (@Davep1984) January 9, 2015
Time Cahill and the official Asian Football Confederation were in agreement after the match:
Who was your man of the match? #AC2015 #AUSvKUW pic.twitter.com/uyqTSt6xHC
— TNC Asia (@TNC__Asia) January 9, 2015
MAN OF THE MATCH: @MassLuongo. #AUSvKUW #AC2015 pic.twitter.com/cetaD2ibYj
— AFC Asian Cup (@afcasiancup) January 9, 2015
AFC's Arabic Twitter account summed up the game:
أستراليا 4 : 1 الكويت ” إنتهت ” ـ إحصائيات المباراة: #AUSvKUW #AC2015 pic.twitter.com/zwuMn9yxRC
— ASIAN CUP 2015 (@ASIANCUP_LIVE) January 9, 2015
Australia 4 : Kuwait 1 – “Final” match statistics