17. Hamburg, 14th June 1974. Australia play their first ever match in the World Cup Finals. What was the score on this historic day and which country were their opponents?
From Quiz Memorable Australian International Matches
Answer:
East Germany 2 Australia 0
It was the then communist country of East Germany that provided Australia's first World Cup Finals hurdle. Ultimately, the match ended in disappointment but not dishonour, with the newly-nicknamed Socceroos losing 2-0. This was certainly a much closer score than the doom-sayers had envisaged, making a mockery of predictions of scorelines that were closer to double figures. Col Curran sent the East Germans on their way with a 56th minute own goal, which they added to in the 68th minute, courtesy of Joachim Streich. Australia's line-up on this momentous day was: Jack Reilly, Doug Utjesenovic, Peter Wilson, Manfred Schaefer, Col Curran, Ray Richards, Jim Mackay, Jim Rooney, John Warren, Adrian Alston & Branko Buljevic.
Four days later, Australia faced the might of West Germany, also in Hamburg, losing 3-0 to goals by Wolfgang Overath, Bernhard Cullmann and Gerd Mueller. Mueller later scored the winner in the Final as West Germany defeated Johan Cruyff's Netherlands 2-1. Australia's final match was on 22nd June in Berlin, against Chile. In the pouring rain, the match finished in a goalless draw. Australia finished the tournament with one point, no goals and bottom of their group. But the seeds had been sown. But boy, did it take a long time for them to grow!
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