Written by Thomas Esamie, Greg Stock, Frank Scicluna and Jean-Michel Cazal. For more details see credits.
| Australia started their preparation for World Cup qualifiers with a series of two games against Kuwait in Singapore. This was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : April 15 | Venue : Woodlands Stadium, Singapore | |||
| Kuwait (Lineup unavailable) |
0 | - | 1 | Australia Robert Zabica, Andrew Marth, Stan Lazaridis, Milan Ivanovic, Alex Tobin, Milan Blagojevic, Branko Milosevic, Paul Wade (c), Steve Corica, Paul Trimboli (Warren Spink 78), Carl Veart (Damian Mori 49) Goal : Trimboli 10 |
| Coach : Eddie Thomson (Australia) | ||||
| The second game was also played in Singapore. This was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : April 19 | Venue : Woodlands Stadium, Singapore | |||
| Kuwait (Lineup unavailable) Goals : A Ashour 57, W Habashi 60, 79 |
3 | - | 1 | Australia Robert Zabica, Tony Vidmar, Mehmet Durakovic, Milan Ivanovic, Alex Tobin, Jason Polak, Damian Mori (Andrew Marth 78), Paul Wade (c) (Brank Milosevic 70), Steve Corica (Stan Lazaridis 56), Warren Spink (Paul Trimboli 46), Carl Veart Goal : Wade 16pk |
| Coach : Eddie Thomson (Australia) | ||||
| Australia played New Zealand in a two legged home and away series to decide the Oceania winner of the World Cup Qualifying series. New Zealand had qualified by winning their group. The first leg was played away in Auckland, with the return leg a week later in Melbourne. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : May 30 | Venue : Auckland, New Zealand | |||
| New Zealand Clint Gosling, Michael Ridenton, Rodger Gray, Ceri Evans, Malcolm Dunford (Perry Cotton 71), Christopher Riley, Danny Halligan, Michael McGarry (Vaughan Coveny 80), Robert Ironside, Frederick De Jong (sent off 70), William Wright |
0 | - | 1 | Australia Mark Bosnich, Dominic Longo, Mehmet Durakovic, Ned Zelic, Alex Tobin, Branko Milosevic (Jason Polak 70), Robbie Slater, Paul Wade (c), Frank Farina (Carl Veart 18), Graham Arnold, Jason van Blerk Goal : Arnold 55 |
| Coach : Eddie Thomson (Australia),
Ian Marshall (New Zealand) Crowd : 10952 Referee : Bo Karlsson (Sweden) | ||||
| Match Report by Thomas Esamie | ||||
| With the win in the second leg, Australia took the tie 4-0 on aggregate. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : June 6 | Venue : Olympic Park, Melbourne, Australia | |||
| Australia Mark Bosnich, Dominic Longo, Mehmet Durakovic, Ned Zelic, Alex Tobin, Jason Polak, Robie Slater, Aurelio Vidmar, Carl Veart (Paul Trimboli 65), Graham Arnold (c), Jason van Blerk Goals : Veart 1, A Vidmar 3, Zelic 49 |
3 | - | 0 | New Zealand Clint Gosling, Michael Ridenton, Rodger Gray, Ceri Evans, Malcolm Dunford, Christopher Riley, Danny Halligan, Michael McGarry, Robert Ironside (Vaughan Coveny 61), Heremai "Harry" Ngata, Darren McClennan |
| Coach : Eddie Thomson (Australia),
Ian Marshall (New Zealand) Referee : Jacobs Ullenberg | ||||
| Match Report by Thomas Esamie | ||||
| The Socceroos travelled to Canada to play the away leg of the next stage of two legged world cup qualifiers. The winner of the games would then go onto play a South Amreican based opponent for a spot at USA 94. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : July 31 | Venue : Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Canada | |||
| Canada Craig Forrest, Frank Yallop, Mark Watson, Nick Dasovic (Carl Valentine 46), Mike Sweeney, Dale Mitchell, Lyndon Hooper, Colin Miller (c), John Limniatis (Norman Odinga 46), Domenic Mobilio, Alex Bunbury Goals : Watson 52, Mobilio 57 |
2 | - | 1 | Australia Robert Zabica (sent off 17), Milan Blagojevic (Mark Schwarzer 17), Mehmet Durakovic, Ned Zelic, Alex Tobin, Paul Okon, Robbie Slater, Aurelio Vidmar (Jason Polak 69), Frank Farina, Graham Arnold (c), Jason van Blerk Goal : Dasovic 44og |
| Coach : Eddie Thomson (Australia)
Bob Lenarduzzi (Canada) Referee : Arturo Carter (Mexico) Crowd : 27775 | ||||
| Match Report by Thomas Esamie | ||||
| The home leg was a remarkable match. Needing to score a 1 goal win the Socceroos found themselves in front 2-1 at the end of 90 minutes and again at the end of extra time. The match was then decided by penalties where Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer covered himself in glory by saving 2 penalties and helping the Socceroos to a 4-1 win on penalties to advance to play Argentina for the final World Cup spot. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : August 15 | Venue : Sydney Football Stadium, Australia | |||
| Australia Mark Schwarzer, Tony Vidmar, Mehmet Durakovic, Milan Ivanovic, Alex Tobin, Ned Zelic (Paul Wade 100), Robbie Slater (David Mitchell 75), Aurelio Vidmar, Frank Farina, Graham Arnold, Jason van Blerk Goals : Farina 45, Durakovic 77 Penalty goals : Wade, A Vidmar, Tobin, Farina |
2 | - | 1 | Canada Craig Forrest, Frank Yallop, Mark Watson, Mike Sweeney, Randy Samuel, Colin Miller, Lyndon Hooper, Nick Dasovic (Grant Needham 108), Domenic Mobilio (Carl Valentine 46), Alex Bunbury, Dale Mitchell Goal : Hooper 55 Penalty goals : Mitchell, Bunbury - saved, Sweeney - saved |
| Coach : Eddie Thomson (Australia),
Bob Lenarduzzi Referee : Shin-Ichiro Obata (Japan) Linesmen : T Oono, M Yamaguchi Crowd : 25982 | ||||
| Match Report by Thomas Esamie | ||||
| In September 1993, Australia travelled to Seoul to play two friendly games against South Korea. This was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : September 24 | Venue : Seoul, South Korea | |||
| South Korea (Lineup unavailable) Goal : Seo J W 35 |
1 | - | 1 | Australia Robert Zabica, Tony Vidmar, Mehmet Durakovic, Milan Ivanovic, Alex Tobin, Jason Polak, Francis Awaritefe, Paul Wade (c), Steve Corica (Damian Mori 80), Kimon Taliadoros (Branko Milosevic 70), Stan Lazaridis Goal : Mori 85 |
| Coach : Eddie Thomson (Australia) | ||||
| The second game was played two days later. This was a friendly match. | ||||
| Played : September 26 | Venue : Seoul, South Korea | |||
| South Korea (Lineup unavailable) Goal : Lee G B 75' |
1 | - | 0 | Australia Robert Zabica, Tony Vidmar, Mehmet Durakovic, Milan Ivanovic, Alex Tobin, Jason Polak, Branko Milosevic (Matthew Bingley 46), Paul Wade (c), Steve Corica (Francis Awaritefe 63), Damian Mori (Kimon Taliadoros 70), Paul Trimboli (George Slifkas 65) |
| Coach : Eddie Thomson (Australia) | ||||
| Australia had now qualified to meet Argentina in a two legged play-off for the final spot at USA 94. The Argentinian side were considered favourites boasting stars like Maradona, Redondo and Batistuta. However in the first leg Australia held their own and even though Argentina scored first Australia fought back to level in to provide a great game for the full house at the Sydney Football Stadium. The game was considerd by many to be Australias greatest as they matched strides with their more fancied opponents forcing the result to be achieved in the second leg in Buenos Aires. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : October 31 | Venue : Sydney Football Stadium, Australia | |||
| Australia Mark Bosnich, Tony Vidmar (David Mitchell 72), Mehmet Durakovic, Milan Ivanovic, Alex Tobin, Ned Zelic, Aurelio Vidmar, Paul Wade (c), Robbie Slater, Graham Arnold, Jason van Blerk Goal : A Vidmar 43 |
1 | - | 1 | Argentina Sergio Goycochea, Jorge Borelli, Sergio Vasquez, Jose Chamot, Carlos MacAllister, Hugo Perez, Fernando Redondo, Jose Basualdo (Gustavo Zapata 70), Diego Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta, Abel Balbo (Fernando Caceres 89) Goal : Balbo 37 |
| Coach : Eddie Thomson (Australia),
Alfio Basile (Argentina) Referee : Sandor Puhl (Hungary) Linesmen : S Marton, L Varga (both Hungary) Crowd : 43,967 (Ground Record) | ||||
| Match Report by Thomas Esamie Match Report by Tim Hatfield | ||||
| The second leg in Buenos Aires was a disappointing result for Australia. Although they matched their opponents for most of the game, the home side driven by a parochial crowd got the result 1-0 and advanced to USA 94 at the expense of the gallant Socceroos. This was a World Cup Qualifying match. | ||||
| Played : November 17 | Venue : Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina | |||
| Argentina Sergio Goycochea, Jose Chamot, Sergio Vasquez, Oscar Ruggeri, Carlos MacAllister, Hugo Perez, Fernando Redondo, Diego Simeone, Diego Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta, Abel Balbo (Gustavo Zapata 70) Goal : Tobin 58og |
1 | - | 0 | Australia Robert Zabica, Tony Vidmar (Carl Veart 64), Mehmet Durakovic, Milan Ivanovic, Alex Tobin, Frank Farina, Aurelio Vidmar, Paul Wade (c), Robbie Slater, Graham Arnold, Jason van Blerk |
| Coach : Eddie Thomson (Australia),
Alfio Basile (Argentina) Referee : Peter Mikkelsen (Denmark) Crowd : 59768 | ||||
| Match Report by Thomas Esamie | ||||