World class effort | Fraser Coast Sport | Local Sports in Fraser Coast

SERGEANT Tony McCarthy from the Maryborough traffic branch is used to getting phone calls at odd hours.

Most signal not very good news – that wasn’t the case with the one he received at 2.30am yesterday.

It was from his daughter Sarah in Perth and the pair had plenty to celebrate.

Sarah’s husband Liam De Young had just led the Australian men’s hockey team, the Kookaburras, to a 2-1 semi-final win against the Netherlands in the World Cup in India.

The win means Australia will now tackle defending champions Germany in the final in the early hours of Sunday morning our time.

Although McCarthy was feeling a little tired yesterday, he said the joy of watching his son-in-law captain the Kookaburras to victory more than compensated for it.

“It’s a great effort to have reached the final because they (the Kookaburras) didn’t start the tournament in the best of fashions,” he said.

“Losing their opening pool game 3-2 to England was not good at all – no Aussie sporting team likes losing to them (England).

“Saying that, Liam and his team-mates bounced back from that disappointment in style by winning all their games and I must say that they are looking good.

“They played really well as a team against the Dutch and I hope that continues in the final.”

McCarthy, who went to the Beijing Olympics to see Liam play, said he was sure the final showdown with Germany was going to be a tough one.

“Well, it’s between the top two teams in the sport,” he said.

“Germany are ranked number one and they have beaten the number two ranked Australia in the past two World Cup finals – they are hoping to become the first team in history to bag a hat-trick of World Cup titles.

“They also won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

“It’s going to be a real classic for sure.

“I cannot wait to watch it.”

While McCarthy will watch the game from the comfort of his armchair, he did say that there was a time when he and Sarah had considered going to India to watch the tournament.

“We talked about it for sure but the security issues over there were a major concern,” he said.

“While we decided to stay put, Liam has said the players have had no trouble at all so I hope that continues.”