"It was the best thing Canberra's ever had," was the view of the fans who came with flares - and left without them after a robust chat with the police.
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"It was a bit of high spirits," a 16-year-old boy from Gunghalin said after two officers pulled him from the big crowd in Civic Square.
He was shaken after his arrest. With the orange smoke of the flares still hanging in the air, police questioned him and gave him a bit of a talking to, but further action seemed unlikely.
"Australia scored and then I lit off a flare, and I was jumping about a bit and the police came and took me to the ground, and put me under some sort of arrest for the moment," he told The Canberra Times, his voice still shaking.
"It was just a bit of high spirits. There was no intention to harm anyone. The atmosphere has been pretty good."
And who can doubt him?
The square was packed with what the police estimated at 2000 fans in a sea of green and wattle gold.
Canberrans of every shape and size, of every colour of skin, and of every class united behind Australia. They gasped at near-misses. They put their heads in their hands when Messi scored. They roared when Australia scored.
And set off flares.
"I was holding a flare. It was in my pocket. They must have seen it," one lad from Queanbeyan said.
"We were in the crowd. People were lighting flares and going crazy. There were flares everywhere," he said.
He said the police who arrested him were angry but "not over the top".
His pals were united in asserting that the event itself was wonderful.
"It's the best thing that Canberra's ever had," he said, and they chimed in to agree.
Police said later that a few people were detained but nobody charged with an offence.
The Queanbeyan group had got up at half past four in the morning to be there for the 6am kick-off.
They weren't alone.
Some came by scooter, weaving their way straight from Mooseheads. Most drove. Every one needed coffee and the queue for caffeine was a good 50 metres long.
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Donny Keomanivong brought his big, loud drum from Gunghalin.
"We came because we're very patriotic," Max Swobwoda whose dad dropped him off said.
"I believe in our squad," his friend from Weston Creek Hanho Lim Webber added.
Madelyn Whittall brought 18-month-old Eli in his golden Socceroos jersey.
"We want to expose him to soccer. Me and my partner have been playing soccer since we were in kindy.
"And we want to support Australia."
Everyone did. Even Gupi de Zavalia in her blue-and-white striped Argentina shirt. "I love Australia," she said. She's been here for four years and works as a designer for events.
"I came with mixed feelings. I'm happy whatever the result."
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Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
