OFFICIAL MEDIA GUIDE OF AUSTRALIA AT THE 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP BRAZIL 0

The early years – pre-Federation
AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM HISTORY
Australia's first official international matches were
played as part of a tour to New Zealand in 1922. While
the two losses and a draw in the three-match series
against the New Zealand national side did not make for
a good start, it was nevertheless a historic phase in
Australia's football history.
Australia’s first international win came a year later,
when New Zealand made a return trip to Australia.
Over the next four decades, Australia's opponents were
mostly from the Commonwealth. In addition to many
home and away matches against the Kiwis, teams from
Canada, India, England and South Africa occasionally
toured Down Under, while the Australians ventured
abroad to places such as the Dutch East Indies (now
Indonesia), Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa.
With limited budgets and scant resources for football
in Australia at the time, there was little opportunity for
professionalism, with virtually all players having to
balance their footballing careers with full-time work
and family life. And in an era where passenger air
travel was in its infancy and transport by sea and
railway was the norm, national team tours were very
long - sometimes lasting for months.
In those days, a commitment to the Australian national
team was a major devotion to the cause. It was an
involvement at a completely different level to today,
and set a lasting foundation that seems yet to be fully
appreciated by the bulk of today's football community.
Highlights of the first 40 years of the Australian national
team include huge victories over arch-rivals New
Zealand in 1936, a successful tour of southern Africa in
1950, and the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games - where
the Aussies won their opening match against Japan.
The aftermath of the Second World War saw wave
after wave of migrants come to Australia with many
bringing their passion for football to these shores.
Scores of 'ethnic-based' teams made their way onto
the scene, together with regular visits from high-profile
European sides. The effects of this influx of 'new
Australians' is evident in successive generations, with
the bulk of Australia’s top players in the decade before
and after the turn of the 21st century having family
roots from the post World War II European migrants.
The late 1950s saw some controversial administrative
changes to football in this country, and for a variety of
reasons Australia ceased to be officially recognised by
FIFA, the game's worldwide governing body, in 1959. As
a result, Australia was banned from playing international
football. In 1963 the dispute with FIFA was resolved, and
Australia became a fully fledged member of the world’s
governing body – a Federation in its own right.
Post-Federation – and a world title to aim for
Australia's first full international matches played after
Federation were also its first attempt at qualifying for a
FIFA World Cup. Following a number of withdrawals
from Asian countries it turned out that Australia,
Oceania's only entrant, merely had to play-off against
North (DPR) Korea for the right to be at the 1966 FIFA
World Cup. An under-prepared Australian side was
convincingly beaten by North Korea over the two legs –
a North Korean side which went on to reach the
quarter finals at England '66.
The qualifying process for the 1970 FIFA World Cup was
a truly marathon campaign. Australia finished first in an
initial tournament in South Korea (Korea Republic),
which was followed by a three match series against
Rhodesia, played in the space of six days in 'neutral'
Mozambique. Following the eventual victory over the
Africans was a home and away final qualification tie
against Israel. Inspired by captain Johnny Warren, the
end result was the closest of losses over the two legs.
Australia’s next World Cup campaign however proved
much more successful and after another rigorous first
phase of qualifying, the Peter Wilson-led Aussies met
South Korea for a place in the 1974 finals. After both the
home and away legs ended in draws, a deciding game
took place in Hong Kong where Jimmy Mackay’s long
range strike became part of Australian sporting folklore.
Australia won the play-off 1-0, ensuring the county’s first
participation in a FIFA World Cup finals tournament.
The World Cup was a totally different experience for
Australia’s part-timers, up against fullly professional
players from nations where the sport was like a religion.
Coached by Rale Rasic, Australia’s first two 1974 World
Cup matches were against East Germany (a 2-0 loss) and
hosts and eventual winners West Germany (a 3-0 loss).
1974 FIFA WORLD CUP
West Germany
GDR
L0-2
FRG
L0-3
CHI
D0-0
Attila Abonyi ◦ •
Adrian Alston • • •
Branko Buljevic • • •
Ernie Campbell
•
Colin Curran • • •
Jim Mackay • • •
Peter Ollerton ◦ ◦
Jack Reilly • • •
Ray Richards • • •
Jimmy Rooney • • •
Manfred Schaefer • • •
Doug Utjesenovic • • •
Johnny Warren •
Harry Williams
◦
Peter Wilson (c) • • •
• started ◦ substitute
OFFICIAL MEDIA GUIDE OF AUSTRALIA AT THE 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP BRAZIL 76