Written by Thomas Esamie, Jean-Michel Cazal and Greg Stock. Thanks to Kevin Christopher (Studs Up editor) for the use of his personal material and John Punshon for the cross referencing of data. For more details see credits.
| For Australia 1985 was a world cup qualifying year and again FIFA had placed Australia in the Oceania sub group. In order to qualify for the 1982 finals Australia had to first top the Oceania group composed of Israel, New Zealand and Taiwan. The matches were again played over home and away leegs with the first opponent being New Zealand in Auckland. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : September 21 1985 | Venue : Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand | |||
| New Zealand Frank Van Huttum, Allan Boath, Shane Rufer, Ceri Evans, Malcolm Dunford, Kenny Cresswell, Grant Turner, Steve Sumner, Declan Edge (Henry 89), Wynton Rufer, Colin Walker |
0 | - | 0 | Australia Terry Greedy, Charlie Yankos, Zarko Odzakov, David Ratcliffe, Steve O'Connor (Robbie Dunn 60), Graham Jennings, Joe Watson, Ken Murphy, Oscar Crino, John Kosmina, David Mitchell |
| Referee : Keith Hackett (England) Attendance : 14,826 Coaches : Kevin Fallon (New Zealand), Frank Arok (Australia) | ||||
| The Chinese national side made a tour of Australia in September and played the Australians in a friendly for the Ampol Cup in Brisbane. Coach Frank Arok divided his Australian squad into an A and B side where they both played China. The B games can be found in the B archive. This was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : September 27 1985 | Venue : Lang Park, Brisbane, Australia | |||
| Australia Terry Greedy (Jeff Olver 69), Alan Davidson, David Ratcliffe, Charlie Yankos, Graham Jennings, Zarko Odzakov, Joe Watson (Frank Farina 68), Oscar Crino, Ken Murphy, David Mitchell, John Kosmina Goals : Kosmina 9, Crino 14, Watson 63 |
3 | - | 0 | China Xu Jianping, Wang Gongsing, Gao Sheng, Jie Ziuquan, Lu Houngxiang, Jun Wang, Li Huagan, Duan Ju, Chen Dong, Ma Lin, Wu Qunli (Wai Kexing 56) |
| Referee : Bill Monteverde (Australia) Attendance : 4,823 Coaches : Frank Arok (Australia), Nian Weisi (China) | ||||
| The second match of the Oceania qualifying series was the away leg against Israel in Tel Aviv. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : October 8 1985 | Venue : National Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel | |||
| Israel Arie Haviv, Gad Machness (Roni Rosenthal 50), Shlomo Kirat (Moshe Selekter 61), Avraham 'Avi' Cohen, David Pizanti, Uri Malmilian, Rifat Turk, Yaacov Ekhoiz, Moshe Sinai, Zahi Armeli, Eliyahu 'Eli' Ohana Goals : Armeli 65 |
1 | - | 2 | Australia Terry Greedy (Jeff Olver 37), Charlie Yankos, Alan Davidson, David Ratcliffe, Steve O'Connor, Graham Jennings, Joe Watson (Robbie Dunn 82), Oscar Crino, Ken Murphy (sent off 85), John Kosmina, David Mitchell Goals : Mitchell 46, Kosmina 49 |
| Referee : Luigi Agnoli (Italy) Crowd : 50000 Cautions : Sinai, Pizanti (Israel), Ken Murphy, John Kosmina, Steve O'Connor (Australia) CoachesYosef Merimovich (Israel), Frank Arok (Australia) | ||||
| Following Australias great victory against Israel the return leg was played 12 days later in Melbourne. There is some doubt as to whether the Israeli goal was scored by Cohen or Malmilian. We do know it came from a corner and the scorer listed is the one from L'Equipe, World Soccer claims Malmilian. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : October 20 1985 | Venue : Olympic Park, Melbourne, Australia | |||
| Australia Terry Greedy, Charlie Yankos, Alan Davidson, David Ratcliffe, Steve O'Connor, Graham Jennings, Joe Watson (Jimmy Patikas 82), Zarko Odzakov, Oscar Crino, John Kosmina, David Mitchell Goal : Ratcliffe 32 |
1 | - | 1 | Israel Arie Haviv, Zion Marili, Shlomo Kirat, Avraham 'Avi' Cohen, David Pizanti, Uri Malmilian (Moshe Selekter 79), Rifat Turk (Roni Rosenthal 68), Yaacov Ekhoiz, Moshe Sinai, Zahi Armeli, Eliyahu 'Eli' Ohana (sent off 65) Goal : Avi Cohen 46 |
| Referee : Jose Rosa Dos Santos (Portugal) Cautions : Alan Davidson, John Kosmina (Australia) Shlomo, Kirat, Turk (Israel) Attendance : 27,000 Coaches : Frank Arok (Australia), Yosef Merimovich (Israel) | ||||
| The next World Cup opponents for the Socceroos were Taiwan. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : October 23 1985 | Venue : Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, Australia | |||
| Australia Jeff Olver, Zarko Odzakov, Steve O'Connor, David Ratcliffe, Graham Jennings, Jimmy Patikas, Ken Murphy (Frank Farina 46), Robbie Dunn, Oscar Crino (Ian Gray 78), David Mitchell, Graham Arnold Goals : Dunn 2, 89pk, Chun Keui Chiang 13og, Mitchell 57, 59, 87, Arnold 68 |
7 | - | 0 | Taiwan Jeng-Tsair Chzou (Jyh Hsiung Yang 78), Yung-Fu Shiao, Chun Keui Chang (Jung Tsung Liu 65), In-Jen Chan, Deng-Sheng Duh, Yao Chuan Chang, I-Shiu Chien, Sing-An Chen, Hong-Yee Tsai, Duen-Jen Wang, Deng-Chyan Duh |
| Referee : John Cameron (New Zealand) Cautions : David Mitchell (Australia) Attendance : 2,000 Coach : Frank Arok (Australia) | ||||
| The return match against Taiwan was played at the unfamiliar venue of St George Stadium in Sydney. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : October 27 1985 | Venue : St George Stadium, Sydney, Australia | |||
| Australia Terry Greedy, Zarko Odzakov, Charlie Yankos, David Ratcliffe, Graham Jennings (Tom McCulloch 60), Joe Watson, Robbie Dunn, Oscar Crino, Frank Farina, John Kosmina, Graeme Arnold (Ian Gray 73) Goals : Odzakov 41, 56, 69 Crino 52, Kosmina 65pk, 72, 88, Gray 89 |
8 | - | 0 | Taiwan Jyh-Hsiung Yang, Shiao Yung-Fu (Jung-Tsung Ciu 46), Chun-Keui Chang, Deng-Shen Duh, In-Jen Chen, Yao-Chuan Chang, Ming-Jen Yu, Hong-Yee Tsai, Sing-An Chen, Shieu Chien, Deng-Chyan Duh |
| Referee : Bill Munro (New Zealand) Caution : In-Jen Chen (Taiwan) Attendance : 2,694 Coach : Frank Arok (Australia) | ||||
| Going into the final qualifying match against New Zealand Australia were on top of their pool and looking near unbeatable for advancement ot the next stage. Australia put up a tremendous match at home and made sure of first place with a 2-0 win at home to New Zealand. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | |||||||
| Played : November 3 1985 | Venue : Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney, Australia | ||||||
| Australia Terry Greedy, Charlie Yankos, Alan Davidson, David Ratcliffe, Steve O'Connor, Graham Jennings, Joe Watson (Zarko Odazkov 74), Oscar Crino, Ken Murphy, John Kosmina, David Mitchell Goals : Kosmina 12, Mitchell 48 |
2 | - | 0 | New Zealand Frank van Hattum, Allan Boath, Shane Rufer (Richard Mulligan 65), Malcolm Dunford, Ceri Evans, Kenny Cresswell, Herbert, Grant Turner, Steve Sumner (Declan Edge 56), Colin Walker, Wynton Rufer | |||
| Referee : Gerard Guerds (Netherlands) Cautions : John Kosmina, Joe Watson (Australia) Grant Turner (New Zealand) Attendance 21,910 Coaches : Kevin Fallon (New Zealand), Frank Arok (Australia) | |||||||
| At the end of the Oceania Round of World Cup qualifiers the final table saw Australia advance to the next stage which was a playoff with Scotland. | |||||||
| 1985 Oceania Group Final Standings | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| Australia | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 2 | 10 |
| Israel | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 6 | 7 |
| New Zealand | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 7 |
| Taiwan | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 36 | 0 |
| Australia had now qualified for the second stage of the qualification series. Only a two legged series against Scotland stood in Australias way with the first match to be played in Glasgow. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : November 20 1985 | Venue : Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland | |||
| Scotland Jim Leighton, William Miller, Alexander McLeish, Maurice Malpas, Steve Nicol, Gordon Strachan (Jim Bett 83'), Graeme Souness, Roy Aitken, Frank McAvennie, Kenny Dalglish (Graeme Sharpe 71'), David Cooper Goals : Cooper 53, McAvennie 59 |
2 | - | 0 | Australia Terry Greedy, Charlie Yankos, Alan Davidson, David Ratcliffe, Steve O'Connor (Robbie Dunn 82), Graham Jennings, Joe Watson (Jimmy Patikas 65), Ken Murphy, Oscar Crino, David Mitchell, John Kosmina |
| Referee : Vojtech Christov (Czechoslovakia) Attendance : 60,000 Coach : Frank Arok (Australia), Alexander Ferguson (Scotland) | ||||
| The return leg in Melbourne was up to this point in Australian soccer history the most important match since the World Cup finals in 1974. Frank Arok had told the Scots to "pack their sunscreen" intending to play in the heat to wilt the Scots. The governing body betrayed the fans by hosting the game in Melbourne, at night and watering the pitch beforehand. The Scots must have thought it was Christmas. Australia needed 2 goals to make a contest and threw everything at the determined Scots. Australia unfortunately failed to find the back of the net and it was Scotland who ended up advancing at the expense of a gallant but cheated Australia. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : December 4 1985 | Venue : Olympic Park, Melbourne, Australia | |||
| Australia Terry Greedy, Charlie Yankos, Alan Davidson, David Ratcliffe, Robbie Dunn (Frank Farina 75), Graham Jennings, Jimmy Patikas, Oscar Crino (Zarko Odzakov 68), Ken Murphy, John Kosmina, David Mitchell |
0 | - | 0 | Scotland Jim Leighton, Richard Gough, Alexander McLeish, William Miller, Paul McStay, Graeme Souness, Roy Aitken, Maurice Malpas, David Speedie (Graeme Sharp 76'), Frank McAvennie, David Cooper |
| Referee : Jose Ramiz Wright (Brazil) Attendance : 29,500 Coach : Frank Arok (Australia), Alexander Ferguson (Scotland) | ||||