AFP/Riyadh

They will be a dot in an ocean of Al Hilal blue but Australian fans—all 11 of them—plan to make their voices heard when Western Sydney Wanderers try to make history today.

“We’re gonna have lots of colour, flags, red and black... and we’re gonna sing our hearts out,” said Pablo Bateson, 58. 

He and Luke Wimble, 41, were the first Wanderers fans to arrive in the Saudi capital yesterday morning from Sydney ahead of the AFC Champions League final second leg against Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal.

The main group lands this morning after a stopover in Dubai,” Bateson said.

“We understand there’ll be 11” altogether, said Wimble.

They are hoping to cheer the Wanderers to Australia’s first ever Asian club championship.

The Sydney side, who take a 1-0 lead into the match, have shot to success just two years after their formation.

In Al Hilal, they face Asia’s most decorated squad which has won a pair of Asian Club championships and has the entire kingdom behind it for this final.

Among the Australian supporters will be one woman, Katie Durnell, who is travelling with her father Richard.

The travelling Wanderers fans will be complemented by close to 100 Australians who live and work in the kingdom, including six or seven women, Bateson said, calling it “quite a sizeable” contingent.

But it will be no comparison with the Saudi fans expected to number close to 65,000, filling King Fahd International Stadium to capacity.

“We’ll do our best” to make some noise, Bateson said.

He expects the Wanderers supporters will sit somewhere near midfield, close to the team bench, so that even if their songs are drowned out the Wanderers will “sense we’re there”.

The two die-hard Australian fans say that no matter how much noise Al Hilal supporters make, it won’t be enough.

“I have great respect for Al Hilal,” Bateson said.

“They’re a quality team, and yet I think there’s more pressure on the home team because they’re behind at the moment one-nil, and the result will be decided by aggregate goals.

“So I’m quietly confident that our team, with our support, can really step up and finish the job to win the title.”