Some Golden Soft Sombrero Moments with Kasey Wehrman

Wehrman on playing Manchester United during the Red Devils tour in 1999….

Diegos: "Congratulations on your Man of the Match performance against Manchester United at Stadium Australia.

How did you feel about your performance and what was it like kicking Nicky Butt's butt?"

Wehrman: " I don't know whether I kicked Nicky Butt's butt but all the same, I was pretty happy with my game. I didn't think that I attacked as well as I could've but I thought I defended fairly well.

I was just happy to walk away with a good performance. They were obviously pretty good opposition so it was satisfying not to get our backside kicked as everybody expected."

Diegos: "A human interest question…. which Manchester United player do you hate the most?"

Wehrman: " Hate the most? I don't really hate any of them. I thought that they deserved a lot of respect because of their achievements.

I suppose that they were a little snobby at times and I must admit that my least favorite player at the moment is Andy Cole because of the bad tackle he laid on Simon (Colosimo). In hindsight, if I had my chance again, he'd probably be the one that I would most like to kick."

Diegos: "The Aussie team copped a hammering in the lead up to the series, with many pundits declaring that it was no more than a fourth string 'Green and Gold' combination.

Was this motivation enough for the team to play as well as it did in the second game or did coach, Raul Blanco, have to deliver one of his 'Mad Mexican' pre-game pep talks to get the boys up for the contest?"

Wehrman: " I think that the articles in the paper were enough to get the guys going. In the second game we were hoping for a really good 1-1 result. We would've been really stoked about a score-line like that. 1-0 in the end was a good effort but the boys weren't really happy about losing the game.

A lot of the press from Melbourne and Sydney was quite negative and it definitely got me pumped up to play harder."

Diegos: "The feisty Socceroo performance against the 'Red Devils' was dampened somewhat by the horrific injury to your Olyroo teammate, Simon Colosimo.

What was your view of the incident?"

Wehrman: "At the time I didn't actually see it. I didn't even see it on the replay but I saw it later on. The Olyroo boys do play fairly strong and tough. When you play a team like Manchester United in an exhibition they clearly make it known that they don't want to get hurt.

They were more concerned about themselves rather than us. As we were going in for tackles, they would say to us 'take it easy young fella, I don't want to get injured' and that kind of stuff, so we decided if the ball was there to be won we will try to do so without going over the top.

For Andy Cole to do what he did after asking us to take it easy, really got us upset and wanting to get stuck in."

Diegos: "Aussie dynamo, Danny Tiatto had a few choice words for the culprit, Manchester United striker, Andy Cole.

With your 'Romper Stomper' haircut and ruggedly handsome face that only your mother could love, did you try and exact your own form of sweet revenge on Cole?"

Wehrman: " After seeing the tackle later, I felt a few of the other players could've got stuck into Cole a little bit more. When Danny Tiatto went up and said a few words to him, I think it livened up the game a lot more for the crowd and the players.

I think if we are to play a game it shouldn't be treated as a friendly, it should be played to its maximum. If the ball is there to be won, whether we're playing Manchester United or someone else, our policy in the future will be to play as tough as we can so that we don't get injuries."

Soft Sombrero Moment 1999

Wehrman on goal celebrations…

Diegos: "You burst onto the scene a few years ago under Frank Farina at Brisbane Strikers. You like scoring goals from downtown and in your early days you used to like to celebrate each strike with a Nadia Comaneci triple somersault with a twist.

Is the gymnastic floor routine still in your goal celebration repertoire, and has it ever all gone wrong, where you've landed on your head rather than your feet?"

Wehrman: " No it hasn't gone wrong yet but I came close when I almost went overboard on a slippery surface at South Melbourne once.

There wasn't much to do up where I come from in North Queensland when I was growing up so my mates and I used to tumble around a lot and put holes in my friend's parent's walls. I suppose this is where I learnt it.

It is still part of my routine because it's always good to score goals."

Soft Sombrero Moment 1999