Vancouver gets its turn in World Cup spotlight as Australia takes on Turkey

Ramazan Kilic says he will get goosebumps when Turkey’s national anthem rings through BC Place Stadium as the World Cup spotlight falls on Vancouver today.

After years of buildup, Turkey will play Australia in the first-ever World Cup game played in Vancouver and Kilic says tonight’s game will be a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to watch the Turkish national team.

Kilic says he watched Turkey play Canada in a friendly match in Toronto in June 1995, but tonight’s game will be special because of the World Cup.

He says he will share this occasion with his wife, his two children, his brother, his sister and his brother-in-law, along with thousands of other Turkish fans, who have come to Vancouver from across Canada and around the world.

Kilic says his family has been getting ready for tonight’s game since the morning, listening to music and dancing, before heading off to the game.

The soccer fan says he and his family will be travelling from Richmond, B.C., by SkyTrain to Vancouver, where they will be meeting up with an expected 2,000 fans in a local park before heading to the game.

Kilic says he has heard that some 35,000 Turkish fans could show up for the game, and they, like he, expect Turkey to beat the Socceroos, as the Australian team is known, with Kilic tipping on a 4-1.

Tonight’s game happens against the backdrop of dropping ticket prices, and Kilic says he got too excited when he bought his four tickets for a total of $5,000.

But he does not appear to have any regrets.

“I said, ‘You know what? It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We will just go to game.’ My kids love soccer. So, I said, ‘why not?’ So, we just bought it. Now, the same tickets, they are like $500, $600 each.”

Kilic’s anticipation won’t be the only thing being tested today.

The city’s preparations for what’s billed as the world’s biggest sporting event will finally be put to the test in the match that has a 9 p.m. kickoff.

Doors open three hours before then, with fans being directed to get to the stadium via walking routes from Main Street Science World SkyTrain Station and downtown along Keefer Street.

There are major road closures around the stadium, and organizers are telling fans to leave their cars at home and take public transit.

The city has seen an influx of Australian fans in green and gold, while Turkey’s enthusiastic supporters greeted their team’s arrival on Thursday by setting off red smoke canisters outside the players’ hotel.

Fans without tickets can head to the official FIFA Fan Festival at Hastings Park in East Vancouver, or the newly pedestrianized Granville Street fan zone in the downtown core.

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