SYDNEY, June eight (Reuters) – Rale Rasic, the Yugoslavian-born coach who led Australia to their 1st Planet Cup finals campaign in 1974, has died aged 87, Football Australia stated on Thursday.
Rasic arrived in Australia in 1962 and was named coach of the Socceroos at the age of 34 in 1970, major the group on an unbeaten run of 12 matches and in the end to qualification for the Planet Cup in West Germany.
In the finals, the mainly amateur Australians failed to score a aim in losses to each East and West Germany and a draw with Chile, finishing bottom of their group.
Rasic was sacked just after the tournament and Australia would not qualify once more till the Planet Cup returned to a reunified Germany in 2006.
“Rale changed the game in Australia in 1974, qualifying Australia for the 1st Planet Cup ever,” present Australia coach Graham Arnold stated in a news release.
“The quantity of passion and appreciate that Rale had for football has never ever drifted also far away from myself and he has been a excellent inspiration for me more than the years.
“He was such a excellent man, he loved a chat, and loved a story, and he usually kept these stories going and that motivated a lot of folks in life.”
Rasic was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1989.
The Socceroos will put on black armbands in memory of Rasic when they take on globe champions Argentina in a Beijing friendly subsequent week, Football Australia stated.
Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford
Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.