A thirsty student from the University of California in Berkeley set out to walk one mile, the story goes. It was 1937, and prohibition had been in place for decades in the San Francisco Bay Area, the frontier of American expansion.<\/p>\n
Alcohol sale was barred anywhere within one mile of the campus, including at the grand Claremont Resort on the edge of Berkeley. Yet as support for prohibition waned, the law was tweaked to measure the radius by street distance rather than crow\u2019s flight.<\/p>\n
Navigating the steep streets in the hills overlooking the Bay, the student and her friends discovered the hotel was beyond the one mile radius by a few feet. The hotel \u2013 so the mythology goes \u2013 seized on the discovery, opening a bar and offering the woman free drinks for life.<\/p>\n
Almost one hundred years later, the Socceroos occupy the same hotel, bright white and castle-like, in contrast to the dusty hills behind. Not far from the working class suburbs in the Oakland area, where homelessness and drug addiction are impossible to ignore, the Socceroos\u2019 every need is provided for.<\/p>\n
The legend of the student \u2013 even if it is now understood to be exaggeration \u2013 highlights the rich past of Australia\u2019s grand World Cup<\/a> home. Team staff have added visions of the Socceroos\u2019 own history to the hotel\u2019s walls.<\/p>\n The Claremont Hotel has played host to the Socceroos during the World Cup group stages. Photograph: Wirestock, Inc.\/Alamy<\/p>\n \u201cQualifying for a World Cup is never taken for granted. Non-qualification is seared in our hearts, so we honour our successes, from 1974 through to the consecutive qualifications since 2006,\u201d said Football Australia\u2019s head of national teams, Gary Moretti. \u201cThe players walk past that memorabilia every day, whether it\u2019s fixed imagery or rotating screens.\u201d<\/p>\n There is a shirt from every World Cup campaign along the hall. Photos of previous Australian sides are displayed in the dining room. These echoes have prompted this tournament\u2019s young generation, such as Nestory Irankunda and Mo Tour\u00e9, to reflect on their place in the Socceroos\u2019 history, and to look back at the achievements of the likes of Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka. \u201cOn our table we have a lot of young boys and we were like, that\u2019s our goal as well for one day,\u201d Tour\u00e9 told the Guardian ahead of the tournament<\/a>.<\/p>\n The hotel is not just a history lesson. The Socceroos each have their own room \u2013 which at the Claremont next month would cost a guest at least US$355 ($477) per night \u2013 but they spend much of their time together playing darts and ping pong, and watching the other World Cup matches in the communal space.<\/p>\n Socceroos players enjoy a barista-made coffee in the hotel. Photograph: Football Australia<\/p>\n \u201cThere are Socceroo things everywhere, from the start until now,\u201d said defender Alessandro Circati. \u201cMy favourite [part of the hotel] would have to be the games room; there\u2019s a ping pong table, there\u2019s a cafe in there, there\u2019s darts, pool. That\u2019d probably be the place apart from my room where I spend the most time.\u201d<\/p>\n At the cafe, the Socceroos\u2019 caffeine demands are met by a barista called Bobby, employed under a partnership with a coffee company. There is also a dedicated head chef from Brazil, who will typically make 24 omelettes a day. There are also barbecue days and occasional sushi.<\/p>\n