Kurtenbach: Layers, grit, and Vegemite - the ‘Alameda Aussies' are the East Bay's World Cup sidepiece team
ALAMEDA - The Australian World Cup team carried a rare distinction amongst their peers earlier this week.
Yes, they might have been the only team preparing for the tournament who needed light jackets - perhaps even a sweatshirt - to practice.
The refrain of the day for the Aussies: “It’s supposed to be summer.”
Nothing makes you a true Bay Area team like having to figure out your layers in June.
It is, in fact, summer, and as such, the every-four-year spectacle, the World Cup, will kick off this week. And with it, soccer’s most wonderful spectacle - 39 days of insane skill and incredible intrigue, all taking place in our backyard.
And while I’m certain we’re all rooting for home countries - be that Team USA, Mexico, or somewhere else on the globe - may I recommend that you pick up a second team for this tournament; a little sidepiece, if you will:
The Alameda Aussies.
Yes, the Soccerroos (what a nickname) are playing in my backyard, training at the Raiders’ former facility, now home of the second-division Oakland Roots soccer team, and staying at the Claremont in the Berkeley Hills.
I even rode my bike to practice, flanked by light-pole banners that said “Alameda Celebrates World Soccer.”
(I’m sure FIFA would be extremely litigious about using “World Cup.”)
Sure, the East Bay might not have a top-flight professional sports team anymore. The A’s? Barnstorming their way around minor-league parks. The Raiders? Long gone to the desert. The Warriors? Sipping wine across the bridge.
But you know what Sacramento, Las Vegas, and San Francisco don’t have?
A World Cup soccer team training facility.
Is it bizarre to see a tub of Vegemite and some Allen’s Minties next to Raiders wall art the team decided not to take with them (there’s a lot of it)? Absolutely.
But we take the wins where we can get ’em, folks.
The Aussies, who open their tournament against Turkey tonight in Vancouver, are saying all the nice things you’d like to hear about their time in the East Bay. Good job hosting, everybody. And, of course, they love the weather, especially compared to the alternatives - England is out here training with palm coolers to battle the heat and humidity in South Florida; Spain, for some reason, is in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
(Who booked that? Probably the same travel agent who thought the A’s playing in Sacramento in the summer was a good idea.)
And while the Aussies will go up against the U.S. on June 19 in Seattle, they, unlike the Yanks, also have a game scheduled at Levi’s Stadium. There’s an argument that they’re the region’s premier attraction this World Cup.
Now, the sell job for the team on the field. This is a likable operation:
The Aussies carry so many characteristics of past USMNT teams - they’re a sum-of-its-parts operation that’s tough at all three levels.
And like those past USMNT teams, they consistently get results that are beyond original expectations. They might lack international superstars, but they consistently punch above their weight.
Four years ago, they made a thrilling run to the Round of 16. They even gave eventual champion Argentina a massive scare.
Historically, Australia makes World Cup qualifying a dramatic, high-stakes affair - they carry that battle-tested temperament into play.
We’ll see how they do in this World Cup because they cruised through qualifying this time around.
The defense is this team’s calling card, but don’t hold that against them. Anchored by Alessandro Circati, a highly rated 22-year-old playing in Italy’s Serie A, and Harry Souttar, the defensive hero from their last World Cup run, the backline is out to crunch some bones.
Behind them is Maty Ryan, continuing Australia's proud, stubborn legacy of brick-wall goalkeeping.
In the midfield is Jackson Irvine - the team’s man-bunned talisman and vocal engine who goes from box to box with a relentless motor and a knack for the aerial goal.
And they might just have the breakout star of the tournament: Nestory Irankunda. You heard about him here first, folks.
The 20-year-old Watford winger is a chaos engine. He’s a physically dominant prospect with a knack for audacious, jaw-dropping goals. I cannot recommend his YouTube highlight reel enough - he’s equally liable to dribble through five defenders and smoothly slot one in the corner as he is to fire a net-seeking knuckleball from 40 yards out.
If the Aussies make an unexpected deep run, it’ll be because Irankunda becomes a star on the world stage.
One of our own, right?
Tough, disciplined, multicultural, and carrying a bit of flair. Sounds like the East Bay to me.
And frankly, the East Bay is long overdue to host a winner. We might have watched our hometown franchises pack up for brighter lights and unbearable heat, but for the next few weeks, we have a squad of gritty, weather-confused gladiators ready to make some noise right in our backyard.
They’ve got the toughness, they’ve got the game-changer, and, perhaps most importantly, they've already mastered the uniquely local art of layering up for a June afternoon.
Up the Alameda Aussies, the East Bay’s hometown team.
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This story was originally published June 13, 2026 at 9:21 AM.