A little boy from Metford has told of the proudest moment of his young life: running into the Hunter Stadium hand-in-hand with the captain of the victorious Australian team who won the Asian Cup semi-final against the United Arab Emirates.
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But amid all the pomp and excitement, six-year-old Joseph Reyes never forgot the man who taught him to love soccer – his father Amilcar, who played the game as a child in El Salvador.
Joseph was chosen to be a Socceroo mascot, one of 44 children selected from more than 700 who had applied.
A player with the Maitland Magpies, Joseph was given a special uniform to wear.
Then he did a practice run at the Hunter Stadium on Tuesday night.
“I held a bottle of water for the Australian captain Mile Jedinak,” Joseph said yesterday. “The big game was going to start when he held his hand out to me and said: ‘Let’s go.”
“I took his hand and we ran out onto the field together – just me and the Australian captain. I had been very nervous with so many people there, but that feeling soon went away.”
The youngster’s mother Lisa had packed a pen for him to take along so he could get players’ autographs.
“But so much was happening I forget to take it with me,” he said.
“It didn’t matter really. It was such a big thing for me to be a player mascot, especially as Australia won. I will never forget that game, even if I grow up to be an old man.
“I wore my special mascot cap and my new soccer boots.
“We all sang Australia’s national anthem after the game, me and all the players together.
“I like to score goals when I play and Dad teaches me in our back yard,” he said. “He taught me everything about the game.
“I met a lot of heroes at the Hunter Stadium, but my biggest hero is Dad.”