MELBOURNE, Australia - On a cloudy Sunday afternoon, an Australian man moseys down Flinders Street, one of the city's most historic roads, decked out in 49ers gear.
"You a Niners fan?" I ask as the man approaches, fully knowing the answer. He's rocking a white Christian McCaffrey jersey, a gold Super Bowl XXIV hat and an oversize red chain necklace attached to an oval-shaped 49ers logo. He's holding a red and gold pompom in his left hand.
For most NFL fans, this would be an excessive outfit on a game day. Raymond Schembri is wearing it five days before the San Francisco 49ers play their season-opener against the Los Angeles Rams at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Yet can you really blame Schembri? He has been waiting for this moment all his life.
"I've been a Niners fan for as long as I can remember," says Schembri, a 58-year-old resident of Yarraville, a nearby suburb. "To hear that they were actually coming to my backyard - our backyard - just (blew) us away."

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