ONE BY ONE, the names flash up on the big screen, and one by one, the swaying, dancing ocean of red and black bellows them out: ‘Ante Čović!’ ‘Adam D’Apuzzo!’ ‘Nikolai Topor-Stanley!’ ‘Michael Beauchamp!’ ‘Jérome Polenz!’ ‘Dino Kresinger!’ ‘Aaron Mooy!’ ‘Youssouf Hersi!’ ‘Iacopo La Rocca!’ ‘Mark Bridge!’ ‘Shinji Ono!’ ‘Shannon Cole!’ ‘Joey Gibbs!’ ‘Kwabena Appiah-Kubi!’

Australia’s newest football team is poised to take on Perth Glory in front of a crowd every bit as multicultural as the home side. Still in their debut season, the Western Sydney Wanderers have beaten some of the mightiest clubs in the A-League competition, including arch-rivals Sydney FC. Now on a six-match winning streak, they need only two more victories to reach the top of the table.