'Can't believe it': Global envy over 'insane' AFL crowd at MCG
Australia is the envy of the world after 78,113 fans fans packed the MCG on Sunday for the AFL's traditional Anzac Day blockbuster between Collingwood and Essendon.
After COVID-19 put a line through the 2020 edition, a world record crowd since the pandemic began turned out on Sunday.
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The 78,113 fans comfortably topped the 67,000 that attended a Twenty20 cricket match between India and England in Ahmedabad last month - the previous record.
The traditional Anzac Day clash is the biggest AFL home-and-away game of the season, and it once more lived up to that billing.
Sitting 15th and 16th on the ladder, both teams are enduring difficult seasons but that did nothing to subdue the atmosphere.
Victorian fans have been more reluctant than normal to attend games this year as the world adapts to life post-COVID.
But with the state government this week increasing capacity at the MCG to 85 per cent, no diehard fan was missing this.
The incredible scenes went viral around the world, with overseas onlookers and those in Australia expressing their disbelief on social media.
Many described the world record crowd as "unreal" and "insane".
Absolutely. Australia is the gold standard for me in terms of how you handled the pandemic. I have a ton of respect for your country.
— Ryan McKinnell (@RyanMcKinnell) April 25, 2021
I can’t believe how lucky we are to be able to do this today #AnzacDay21 #mcg pic.twitter.com/IFIgK9XqK0
— Helen Kolovos 🐯 (@helenekolovos) April 25, 2021
No masks too. Surreal.
— MissLucy (@MissLucy_2011) April 25, 2021
Greetings from Canada. Looking at these photos, possibly there is hope for us.
— Sharon Murphy (@sdm59) April 25, 2021
Congratulations Australia. Meanwhile, in India...
— Neale Stratford - Plague Rat of the Sewer 🐀 (@Strattyg) April 25, 2021
Jono Baruch (@JonoBaruch) Napisał/a: What pandemic?
A world record crowd of 78,113 since the start of COVID-19 packing the @MCG on #ANZACDAY And doesn't it look and sound glorious!! pic.twitter.com/hAibnBEjaA https://t.co/M5k9168HAi— Dominik (@Dominiczak107) April 25, 2021
Watching 100,000 at the MCG for the Anzac Day game. Feels unreal. But a reminder we will get through this and have those days again too.
— Joanne Peters (@joannepetersco1) April 25, 2021
Spine-tingling scenes as 78,000 pack the MCG
People arrived early to watch the Army band perform an array of rocking covers, including The Darkness' I Believe in a Thing Called Love.
If Meatloaf's infamous 2011 grand final performance is the musical nadir on the Ponsford stage, the talented servicemen and women were at the complete opposite end of the spectrum.
But the true spine-tingling moments were still to come.
On the same weekend banners have returned to AFL fields, Collingwood and Essendon ran through the same one - an entrance which has become an Anzac Day tradition.
Next was the minute's silence and the performance of the Last Post.
While last year's recorded rendition was unforgettable in its own way, once again having a stadium full of people remembering the sacrifices of fallen soldiers was truly special.
The Last Post is played before all games during the Anzac Day round, but what stands out at the Collingwood-Essendon clash is the roar after the national anthem.
Not since the 2019 finals series has there been such a loud noise at a football game in Victoria.
with AAP
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