Written by Jean-Michel Cazal, Thomas Esamie and Greg Stock. Thanks to Kevin Christopher for the use of his personal material and John Punshon for the cross referencing of material. For more details see credits.
| Greece toured Australia in 1969 as a warm-up for Australia facing a World Cup qualifying series later in the year. The Greek national side were also using the tour as preperation for their remaining world cup qualifiers against Romania. A series of three matches was played with the first in Sydney in front of 30,000 including an interested Mr Gough Whitlam. This was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : July 19 | Venue : Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia | |||
| Australia Ron Corry, Manfred Schaefer, John Watkiss, Alan Marnoch, Stan Ackerley, Danny Walsh, John Warren, Adrian Alston (Tommy McColl 46), Atti Abonyi, Ray Baartz, Billy Vojtek Goal : Abonyi 60pk |
1 | - | 0 | Greece Christidis Nikos (Angelos Saraliotis 26), Christos Intzoglou, Apostolos Toskas, Angelos Spiridon, Athanasis Intzoglou, Stavros Sarafis, Yorgos Dedes (Neotakos Hatzionnoglou 75), Efstathios Haitas (Dimitri Papaioannou 46), Kostas Aidiniou, Michales Kritikopoulos, Yorgos Karafeskos |
| Referee : Tony Boskovic Coach : Joe Vlatsis (AUS), D Giorgiadis (GRE) Attendance : 30,155 | ||||
| This match was the second of the three match series. After the match in Sydney the Greek coach Giorgiadis gave his team a good serve and it was a different Greek side that came out intent on taking the game by any means possible. In the second half the Greek players went out of their way to physically intimidate the Australians by kicking and punching until the referee Mr Parsons took control and sent off a Greek player. The Greek coach was also ordered off the field by the referee several times and it was a credit to the Australian players that they did not retaliate in this bruising encounter. Despite all that this was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : July 23 | Venue : Exhibition Ground, Brisbane, Australia | |||
| Australia Ron Corry, Manfred Schaefer, John Watkiss, Alan Marnoch, Stan Ackerley, Danny Walsh (Ray Lloyd 80), John Warren, Tommy McColl, Atti Abonyi, Ray Baartz, Billy Vojtek Goals : Vojtek 48, Baartz 62 |
2 | - | 2 | Greece Angelos Saraliotis, Christos Intzoglou, Angelos Spiridon, Apostolos Toskas, Athanasis Intzoglou, Yorgos Karafeskos, Efstathios Haitas, Yorgos Dedes, Dimitris Papaioannou (Costas Davourlis 75), Michales Kritikopoulos (sent off 89), Neotakis Hatzionnoglou Goals : Dedes 19, 46 |
| Referee : Harold Parsons Coaches : Joe Vlatsis (Australia), D Giorgiadis (Greece) Attendance : 10,037 | ||||
| The third match in Melbourne saw the home side fall to pieces with some bad finishing. Several oppurtunities were missed and Australia only had itself to blame for not being competitive in the game. This was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : July 27 | Venue : Olympic Park, Melbourne, Australia | |||
| Australia Ron Corry, Manfred Schaefer, John Watkiss, Alan Marnoch, Stan Ackerley (Bill Rice 68), Ray Lloyd (Danny Walsh 58), Tommy McColl, Atti Abonyi, John Warren, Ray Baartz, Billy Vojtek |
0 | - | 2 | Greece Nikos Christidis, Christos Intzoglou, Angelos Spiridon, Apstolos Toskas, Athanasis Intzoglou, Efstathois Haitas, Yorgos Dedes (Kostas Aidiniou 44), Stavros Sarafis, Michales Kritikopoulos, Yorgos Karafeskos, Neotakis Hatzionnoglou (Dimitri Papaioannou 46) Goals : Dedes 22, Papaioannou 55 |
| Referee : Vince Dobinson Attendance : 24,416 Coaches : Joe Vlatsis (Australia), D.Giorgiadis (Greece) | ||||
| The Australian team then flew to Seoul for the Elimination Round of the 1970 World Cup. Three days later the side was lining up to play their first game on a freezing Seoul day aginst the Japanese. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : October 10 | Venue : Seoul, South Korea | |||
| Japan Yokoyama, Yamaguchi, Katayama, Kamata, Onishi, Mori, Ogi (M Miyamoto), T Miyamoto, Watanabe (Kimura), Kuwahara, Sugiyama Goal : Watanabe 11 |
1 | - | 3 | Australia Ron Corry, George Keith, Manfred Schaefer, Alan Marnoch (Manuel), Stan Ackerley, John Warren, John Watkiss, Tommy McColl, Atti Abonyi, Ray Baartz, Perin (Billy Vojtek) Goals : McColl 5, Ogi 68og, Baartz 69 |
| Referee : P Nice (Malaysia) Attendance : 10,500 Coach : Joe Vlatsis (Australia) | ||||
| Australias second match was against the home side South Korea. The match was a very physical one but saw Australia take a commanding position after beating both sides and seeing Japan and South Korea draw. The Australians were pelted at the completion of the match by a hostile home crowd with bottles and cans before police escorted the side into the dressing room. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : October 14 | Venue : Municipal Stadium, Seoul, South Korea | |||
| South Korea Son Cho Myung, Kim Jung Suk, Kim Ho, Kim Jung Wan, Cho Chung Soo, Seo Yoon Chan, Park Lee Chun, Lee Lee Woo, Park Soo Il, Kim Ki Bok (Hoo In Woong), Lee Hae Taik Goal : Lee Lee Woo 45' |
1 | - | 2 | Australia Ron Corry, George Keith, Manfred Schaefer, Alan Marnoch, Stan Ackerley, John Warren, John Watkiss, Tommy McColl, Atti Abonyi, Ray Baartz, Billy Vojtek Goals : Watkiss 37, McColl 82 |
| Referee : G Suppiah (Singapore) Attendance : 25,000 Coach : Joe Vlatsis (Australia) | ||||
| The third match was the return game against Japan (the three teams played each other twice). The result was a draw although Australia had a second goal disallowed after the referee changed his earlier decision. The referee awarded the goal before the linesmen drew the refereees attention to a supposed indiscretion. The goal was then reversed into a Japan free kick. There was another refereeing incident later in the match when Tom McColl was upended in the box with no penalty. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : October 16 | Venue : Seoul, South Korea | |||
| Japan Kenzo Yokoyama, Hiroshi Katayama, Kumeda, Mitsuo Kamata, Yoshidata Yamaguchi, Aritatsu Ogi, Ikuo Matsumoto (Masashi Watanabe), Takaji Mori (Kawano), Teruki Miyamoto, Yasuyuki Kuwahara, Ryuichi Sugiyama Goal : Miyamoto 4 |
1 | - | 1 | Australia Ron Corry, George Keith, Manfred Schaefer, Alan Marnoch, Stan Ackerley, John Warren, John Watkiss, Tommy McColl, Atti Abonyi, Ray Baartz, Billy Vojtek Goal : McColl 39 |
| Coach : Joe Vlatsis (Australia) | ||||
| The last of the round-robin matches was against South Korea. In the second game between South Korea and Japan, South Korea had won and it meant that they had a chance to win the tournament should they beat Australia. Australian coach Joe Vlasits gambled a little with a few untried players but his selections worked out when Australia escaped with a draw and won the series to advance to the next round against Rhodesia. The game was an exciting one and saw Australia have a goal disallowed and keeper Corry save a South Korean penalty. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : October 20 | Venue : Seoul, South Korea | |||
| South Korea So Cho Myung, Kim Jung Suk, Kim Ho Kwang, Kim Chung Nam, Cho Chung Soo, Kim Ki Bok, Seo Yoon Chan, Park Ee Chun, Lee Lee Woo, Lee Hoi Tae, Park Soo Il Goal : Park Soo Il 29 |
1 | - | 1 | Australia Ron Corry, George Keith, Manfred Schaefer, Alan Marnoch (David Zeman), Stan Ackerley, John Warren, Perin, Tommy McColl, Atti Abonyi (Rutherford), Ray Baartz, Billy Vojtek Goal : Baartz 58 |
| Attendance : 25,000 Coach : Joe Vlatsis (Australia) | ||||
| Group 15 Qualifying Tournament Final Standings | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Points |
| Australia | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 6 |
| South Korea | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| Japan | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 2 |
| There was much controversy before the next round of World Cup Qualifiers. Australias next opponents Rhodesia had been told by the Mexican Government that even if they won series they would not be granted visas to compete in the finals. This was due to the Southern Rhodesian governments treatment of the native population at the time. It then followed that these matches were of no importance but it was decided at the last minute to go ahead and so Australia played. Nothing much was known about the Rhodesians who were made up of mostly non-white players. The Australian team was without inspirational captain Johnnie Warren after he was taken sick, and proceeded to keep Rhodesia in the match by wasting numerous scoring oppurtunities. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : November 23 | Venue : Salazar Stadium, Laurenco Marques, Mozambique | |||
| Rhodesia Robin Jordon, Stuart Knowles, Philimon Tigere, Peter Haddon, James Chibaya (Adolf Mutama), William Sibanda, Topsy Robertson, James Nyumalo, Bobby Chalmers, Hylton Grainger, George Shaya Goal : Chalmers 63' |
1 | - | 1 | Australia Ron Corry, George Keith, Manfred Schaefer, Alan Marnoch, Stan Ackerley, Danny Walsh, Alston (John Watkiss), Willie Rutherford (Billy Vojtek), Atti Abonyi, Ray Baartz, Tommy McColl Goal : McCall 68 |
| Referee : Saldanha Antonio Ribeiro (Portugal) Attendance : 6,500 Coach : Joe Vlatsis (Australia) | ||||
| The second match of the series again played in neutral Mozambique and saw Australia completely dominate their opponents. Again bad finishing and ineffectual shooting cost Australia as it let Rhodesia off the hook. The match was also broadcast by the ABC's Martin Royal for the fans back in Australia. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : November 27 | Venue : Salazar Stadium, Laurenco Marques, Mozambique | |||
| Rhodesia Robin Jordan, Stuart Knowles, Philimon Tigere, Peter Haddon, Adolf Mutama, Isaac Chieza, William Sibanda, Topsy Robertson, Bobby Chalmers, Hylton Grainger (Gibson Homela), Nelson Mapara |
0 | - | 0 | Australia Ron Corry, George Keith, Manfred Schaefer, Alan Marnoch, Stan Ackerley, John Warren, Danny Walsh, Atti Abonyi, John Watkiss (Willie Rutherford), Ray Baartz, Billy Vojtek |
| Referee : Saldanha Antonio Ribeiro (Portugal) Attendance : 3,500 Coach : Joe Vlatsis (Australia) | ||||
| In the third game (due to the two draws) Australia finally overwhelmed the stubborn Rhodesians. With only two days between games the Australian side responded well to the flak that had greeted their last match and put on a much better display to advance to the next round of World Cup qualifiers. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : November 29 | Venue : Salazar Stadium, Laurenco Marques, Mozambique | |||
| Rhodesia Robin Jordan (Stewart Gilbert 35'), Stuart Knowles, Philimon Tigere, Peter Haddon, Adolf Mutama, Isaac Chieza, William Sibanda, Nelson Mapara, Bobby Chalmers, Hylton Grainger, Nelson Mapara (Topsy Robertson 64') Goal : Chalmers 49' |
1 | - | 3 | Australia Ron Corry, George Keith, Manfred Schaefer, Alan Marnoch, John Perin (David Zeman), John Warren, Danny Walsh, Atti Abonyi, Willie Rutherford, Ray Baartz (Adrian Alston), Billy Vojtek Goals : Rutherford 12, Sibanda 22og, Warren 56 |
| Referee : Saldanha Antonio Ribeiro (Portugal) Attendance : 1,500 Coach : Joe Vlatsis (Australia) | ||||
| Immediately following the match against Rhodesia Australia flew directly to Israel where they were due to play Israel in the next stage of the World Cup elimination series. Ron Corry, the Australian goalkeeper kept the side in the game with some great saves as well as saving a penalty. In the end it was the Israeli sides fitness and technique that saw them prevail. Some sources credit the only goal of the game to Giora Spiegel. This match was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : December 4 | Venue : National Stadium, Ramat-Gan, Israel | |||
| Israel Itzhak Visoker, Shraga Bar (Mordechai Lubetski 76), Aharon Shuruk, Zvi Rosen, Menachem Bello, Shmuel Rosenthal, Mordechai Spiegler (c), Giora Spiegel, Rahamim Talbi, Yehoshua Feigenboim, Itzhak Shum Goal : Zeman 16og |
1 | - | 0 | Australia Ron Corry, George Keith, Manfred Schaefer, David Zeman, Stan Ackerley, John Watkiss, John Warren, Atti Abonyi, Willie Rutherford, Ray Baartz, Tommy McColl (Billy Vojtek) |
| Referee : Ferdinand Marschall (Austria) Attendance : 48,000 Coach : Joe Vlatsis (AUS), Imanuel Shefer (ISR) | ||||
| Australias bowed out of the World Cup race with a 1-1 draw in front of a capacity crowd at Sydney's Sports Ground. Australia played well but it was again the finesse and tactics of the Israelis that saw them home with a draw to take the two leg series. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : December 14 | Venue : Sydney Sports Ground, Australia | |||
| Australia Ron Corry, George Keith, Manfred Schaefer, Alan Marnoch, Stan Ackerley, Danny Walsh, John Warren, Atti Abonyi, John Watkiss, Ray Baartz, Danny Vojtek (Willie Rutherford 60) Goal : Watkiss 88 |
1 | - | 1 | Israel Itzhak Visoker, Shraga Bar, David Primo, Zvi Rosen, Menachem Bello, Shmuel Rosenthal, Giora Spiegel, Meir Barad (Rahamim Talbi 60), Yehoshua Feigenboim, Mordechai Spiegler, Itzhak Shum (Mordechai Lubetski 88) Goal : Spiegler 78 |
| Referee : Ferdinand Marschall (Austria) Attendance : 32,500 Coach : Joe Vlatsis (AUS), Imanuel Shefer (ISR) | ||||