SPORT
HARPO ’ s MARKS
The Socceroos ’ journey to earn a place in next year ’ s 2026 World Cup in Canada , the United States and Mexico continues as they bid to qualify for the Big Dance for the seventh time .
Our national men ’ s side first qualified back in 1974 when the cup was hosted by West Germany .
The Socceroos first match was against East Germany , losing 2-0 , followed four days later with a 3-0 defeat at the hands ( and feet ) of West Germany whose team included two of the greats - Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Mueller .
The Socceroos ended their campaign with a courageous performance against Chili , drawing 0-0 .
As a side bar , it was Sydney ’ s Daily Mirror soccer writer , Tony “ Hotspur ” Horstead who seven years previously first coined the term “ Socceroos ”.
In 1967 , the team , under coach Joe
Vlasits , took the nickname away with it on a tour to the still war-ravaged Vietnam .
On the team ’ s return home , Hottie asked his readers to send in suggestions for a name for the national team and offered a prize of a free pass to all matches the following season .
Names submitted included the Emus , which was very heavily favoured , Wattles , Jackaroos , Wombats , Bandicoots and Boomerangs , but Hottie ’ s naming competition had little effect , and thus the Socceroos remained Socceroos .
Hottie and I became good mates after I joined the Mirror in March 1968 , and before he died years later , he presented me with two fabulous antique books on boxing .
I treasure them and keep them hidden amongst our cook-books – no burglar would go there .
Mrs Harpo doesn ’ t !
Barrier with RiseTONY BRASSEL
CONTEMPORARY is a very exciting 4-year-old out of the James Cummings yard and showed he was ready to continue with his excellent form when a fast-closing 3rd in a 789m trial at W ’ Farm on June 17 .
DRIFT NET is another out of the cummings stable and the 3YO filly was never out of second gear in close-up , fast finishing 5th in a 789m trial at W ’ Farm on June 17 .
ALPINE SKI is yet another unraced 2YO out of the cummings yard . The Exceed and Excel colt raced greenly under strong restraint when close-up second in 789m trial at the Farm on June 17 .
AXIUS showed abundant pace and raced away concluding stages to score smart win against fellow 2YO company over 789m at W ’ Farm on June 17 .
TARPAULIN is also trained by James Cummings and boy ; did he finish fast when close up 2nd in a 2YO W ’ Farm trial over 786m on June 17 .
SENSATIONAL WIND was hard on the hammer of the placegetters in 4th possie in the above trial . He also finished powerfully down the running without being pushed out .
Well , got a bit off the track there , so let ’ s return to that history-making 1974 Socceroos outfit .
The Socceroos ’ coach for the 1974 World Cup was Rale Rasic , who sadly passed away , aged 87 ( not a bad dig all the same ) on June 8 , last year .
Rale immigrated to Australia in 1962 but returned to Yugoslavia after 18 months to serve in the army .
He returned to Australia and played football in the Victorian League with Footscray JUST .
After an injury cut short his playing career , Rasic moved into coaching where he guided Footscray into the play-offs and then to the Victorian title in 1969 .
A brief stint with Melbourne club , Hungaria , followed before he was appointed Socceroos coach at the age of 34 .
The astute coach went on to mastermind Australia ’ s qualification and participation at the 1974 FIFA World Cup before resigning shortly after the team returned home .
In 2004 , Rale was the recipient of a Medal of the Order of Australia ( OAM ) for his service to soccer as a player , coach and administrator .
The 1974 squad was stacked with men who had made Australia their new home – all but eight of the 22-man squad were post-World War II immigrants .
Englishman Peter Wilson was the captain , Hungarian-born Atti Abonyi and English striker Adrian Alston provided the attacking weapons while German Manfred Schaefer returned to his homeland to provide the steel in Australia ’ s defence .
And Harry Williams became the first Indigenous Australian to play at a World Cup .
The now 73-year-old Harry first played for Australia in 1970 , wearing Socceroo colours in six matches before heading off with his team-mates for West Germany .
Harry represented his country in 17 games between 1970 and 1978 .
Most of the 1974 World Cup players held down blue-collar jobs and were required to take extended leave for the tournament .
These are the players who contributed immensely to the history of soccer in this country – remember the names !
Goalkeepers : Allan Maher ( Sutherland Shire SFC ), Jim Milisavljević ( Footscray JUST ), Jack Reilly ( Hakoah Eastern Suburbs ).
Defenders : Colin Curran ( Western Suburbs ), Ivo Rudic ( Pan-Hellenic SC ), Manfred Schaefer ( St George- Budapest SC ), Doug Utjesenović ( St George-Budapest SC ), John Watkiss ( Hakoah Eastern Suburbs ), Harry Williams ( St George-Budapest SC ), Peter Wilson ( Safeway United SC ).
Midfielders : Dave Harding ( Pan- Hellenic SC ), Jimmy Mackay ( Hakoah Eastern Suburbs ), Raymond Richards ( Club Marconi Fairfield ), Jimmy Rooney ( APIA Leichhardt ), Max Tolson ( Safeway United SC ).
Attackers : Attila Abonyi ( St George- Budapest SC ), Adrian Alston ( Safeway United SC ), Branko Buljevic ( Footscray JUST ), Ernie Campbell ( Club Marconi Fairfield ), Gary Manuel ( Pan-Hellenic SC ), Peter Ollerton ( APIA Leichhardt ), Johnny Warren ( St George-Budapest SC ).
DISGUSTING MARKS : It was as obvious as the orange paint on Donald Chump ’ s face that the NSW State of Origin players went out to maim the brilliant Reece Walsh in the first match of the series . I ’ d like to see Walsh test the obviously intent-to-maim tackle in the courts .
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30 ISSUE 109 // JULY 2024 theindependentmagazine . com . au THE HILLS INDEPENDENT