Roy Hay
Australia will soon begin its fourth football World Cup finals campaign
– the third successive tournament it has qualified for – with group stage
matches against Chile, the Netherlands and Spain.
While some more recent Australian football fans might now view
qualification for the World Cup as something we can take for granted,
Australia’s earlier adventures in attempting to gain access to the pinnacle of
the world game prove it wasn’t always thus.
Australia began trying to qualify for the World Cup soon after its FIFA
membership was restored in 1963. Australia had been suspended because local
clubs were signing up overseas players such as Leo Baumgartner and Sjel de
Bruyckere, claiming they were just migrants who had arrived here and only
wanted a game of football. Their European clubs were not receiving transfer
fees and complained to FIFA, which suspended Australia.
Australia’s first attempt to get to the World Cup – the 1966 tournament
in England – was very disappointing. The Australian team prepared in Cairns
with a match against Ingham, while their opponent, North Korea, had about 35
competitive games before the two-match play-off in Phnom Penh. Australia lost
both encounters comprehensively, then played a series of matches in Asia to
help defray the trip’s costs.
Later, Australia learned to play warm-up games before the main event,
not afterwards.
In 1967, in the middle of the Vietnam War with prime minister Harold
Holt under pressure at home, it was decided that Australia should play in the
Independence Day tournament in Saigon. The idea was to help demonstrate the
superiority of democracy and boost morale among service personnel and the
domestic population.
A young team led by Johnny Warren and coached by “Uncle” Joe Vlasits
found itself interacting with Australian troops who would then go off to fight
while they played and beat New Zealand, South Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia
en route to the final against South Korea. The Australians threatened not to
take part after being informed that there was no space in the stadium for the
Australian military personnel who had been a huge support to the players on and
off the field.
As it turned out, the service personnel were allowed in and the rest of
the crowd supported Australia rather than the Koreans, much to the Australians'
surprise. South Korea scored in the first minute, but the Australians responded
brilliantly. Billy Vojtek produced a wonderful solo goal after 36 minutes and
Atti Abonyi and Warren added the others in a 3-2 win to register Australia’s
first international tournament victory.
The camaraderie in the face of adversity was an important element in the
mindset that eventually helped Australia qualify for the World Cup in West
Germany in 1974.
Led by Rale Rasic, a bunch of part-time players, some of whom had to
give up their employment to take part, qualified by beating South Korea in
another play-off, this time in Hong Kong. Everyone remembers Jimmy Mackay’s
fierce shot that won the decisive game, but fewer remember Jimmy Fraser’s
performances in goal that helped get Australia to that point.
Highlights from Australia’s 1974 World Cup qualification campaign.
In the finals, Australia lost to East and West Germany and drew with
Chile. Chile, coincidentally, will be Australia’s first opponent in the 2014
tournament, and another draw would be an excellent result. That match against
Chile in 1974 was marked by the appearance of Harry Williams as a substitute late
in the game, the first recognised Indigenous player to represent Australia at a
FIFA World Cup.
In 2005, after a wait of more than three decades, Australia qualified
for another World Cup in a now-united Germany. People asked me before the
tournament: “Will we qualify for Germany?” I would reply: “We always qualify
for the World Cup in Germany.”
After the excruciatingly narrow loss
to Iran at the MCG in 1997 on the away goals rule, getting
to Germany depended once again on a series of brilliant saves by goalkeeper
Mark Schwarzer, who has recently retired from international football, and a
penalty kick by John Aloisi to defeat Uruguay.
A penalty shootout sent Australia to the 2006 World Cup.
The nation united behind the team. It is estimated that some 60,000
Australians followed them to Germany, the largest outward movement of
population since World War Two. Many did not have tickets but enjoyed the
tournament in the fan fests in all of the World Cup cities.
At home, thousands got up in the middle of the night to watch Australia
on big screens in cities across the country. Australia beat Japan with three
very late goals, lost to Brazil, but then drew with Croatia to qualify for the
knockout stages. Only a late penalty to the eventual winner, Italy, brought the
campaign to an end.
Australia has since qualified for South Africa in 2010 – where it went
out in the group stages after a win, loss and draw – and the tournament in
Brazil is now about to start. Bring it on.
Roy Hay and Bill
Murray’s new book, A History of Football in Australia, is
published by Hardie Grant.
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