Host nation Italy, which is also the only country to have won the Homeless World Cup twice, kicked off the play of the 2009 Homeless World Cup in Milan with a match against Ghana.

The game was hard-fought, but Ghana, which finished third in the 2008 Homeless World Cup, in the end proved too strong for the Italians, defeating them 6-4.

Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Germany, Portugal, Poland, and Brazil also looked strong in their opening matches, with Ireland actually looking even more dangerous after one of their players was sent off for a short time for an overzealous tackle.

The Australia–Canada match was the second last of the day, with the Street Socceroos waiting patiently in the warm Milan weather and diplomatically cheering equally for the other teams, which they will meet on the pitch in coming days.

With just five goals in total, the Australia–Canada game was relatively low scoring but evenly matched.

The Street Socceroos drew first blood in the first half and the excitement at opening the goalscoring campaign was palpable.

It was short-lived, though, as Canada equalised and then went 1-2 up.

The Street Socceroos were visibly rattled, but rallied to even the score at two goals apiece.

There are no such things as draws in the Homeless World Cup, with matches going to sudden-death penalty shoot outs should the scores be locked at full time.

It seemed as though the match was heading for a penalty shoot out until a long-range most-unlikely shot on goal that looked more like a pass saw the Canadian ‘keeper go the wrong way and give the Street Socceroos a 3-2 win in their opening match.

The Homeless World Cup runs until 13 September.