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With the national team away in Russia for the World Cup , this real-life socceroo invaded the pitch during a women’s match in Canberra.
It bounded on at the half-time break and refused to budge, above, delaying play between the capital’s two top teams for 32 minutes.
A coach in a pick-up truck eventually chased it through a break in a fence into a car park.
"He was quite happily watching the first part of the match and decided he'd join the field of play when the girls went off at half time," match commentator Russ Gibbs told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
A kangaroo invades the pitch during a soccer match between Canberra FC and Belconnen United in CanberraREUTERSFootage showed ground staff at the Sunday game between two women's team, the Canberra Football Club and cross-town rivals Belconnen United, trying to shoo away the kangaroo by kicking a ball at it. But the 'roo defended ably.
"It was quite happy to control it and send a good quality pass," Gibbs said, adding it was difficult to move the kangaroo on "without aggravating it any further and making it upset."
The bouncey pitch invader refused to leaveREUTERSAustralia has an estimated 45 million kangaroos, or more than double the number of people.
Although they rarely disrupt sport matches, they are a common sight in the countryside and around Canberra, which is dubbed "the bush capital".
Eventually the Belconnen coach used his car to chase it away through an open fence, the match resumed, and his side won 2-0.