Socceroos

The Hon. J.S. LEE (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:32): It is my pleasure to rise today to acknowledge that 2024 marks the 50^th anniversary of the appearance of the Socceroos' maiden appearance at the 1974 FIFA World Cup in West Germany. When it comes to participation, soccer is Australia's national game and there are more than 2,200 soccer clubs across Australia. Soccer has more than 1.7 million participants through clubs and venues according to AusPlay statistics, a net increase of nearly 250,000 players since 2016.

The 1974 Socceroos were pioneers of Australian soccer and were one of the most diverse groups of players on the international stage. All were part-timers with real-life jobs, such as a tiler, a milkman, a car salesman, a solicitor's assistant and a cleaner. The road to the World Cup was a rocky one, playing almost a dozen qualifying matches over eight months in 1973 to earn the only spot available in the 16-team tournament. Interestingly, only seven out of 22 players in the squad were born in Australia with the rest hailing from modern-day Croatia, England, Hungary, Scotland and Serbia.

This multicultural team came together from across the country to take on the biggest names in international football, led by the iconic coach Rale Rasic. The team were proud to play for Australia with Serbian-born Doug Utjesenovic, stating that 'even though we were coming from all different places, we blended together'. It was the toughest possible campaign, though, with the first match against East Germany and the second against the home side, West Germany. The Aussies only gained one point in the tournament and did not progress beyond the group stage and, believe it or not, the Socceroos first World Cup appearance would be its last for another 32 years.

However, it was argued that the 1974 campaign was one that laid the foundations for soccer's growth in Australia, resulting in a period of sustained success that has since seen the Socceroos appear in five consecutive global finals. The Socceroos inspire Australians with their courage, determination and fierce team spirit, never backing down despite all the challenges they face. They have never won the FIFA World Cup, their best performance being finishing in the round of 16 in 2006 and 2022.

In 2022, the Socceroos qualified for their fifth consecutive FIFA World Cup after defeating Peru in a penalty shootout in their play-off match. The win capped off 20 qualifiers on the way to securing their spot in Qatar. In Qatar, the Socceroos experienced their most successful campaign in a FIFA World Cup and advanced to the round of 16 for the second time and first since 2006.

The Socceroos won four Nations Cup titles in 1980, 1996, 2000 and 2004, and one Asian Cup in 2015. Congratulations to the Socceroos and the team at Football Australia, including chairman, Anter Isaac, whom I met recently, and board members, as well as James Johnson, chief executive officer, for their passion, commitment and strong leadership.

Football Australia has worked with the Australian football community to release a vision for Australia's largest participant, most diverse and globally connected sport. The 10 principles for the future of Australian football provide a 15-year bold vision. Since its release in 2020, some of the achievements include:

winning a successful bid to host the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, together with New Zealand. It was the most significant event in Australian sport since the 2000 Sydney Olympics with some 1.5 billion people tuning in from around the world;

the launch of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 legacy program, Legacy 23, which is aimed at increasing Australia's football participation base, particularly women and girls, improving facilities across the country, maximising opportunities to boost tourism and trade, and empowering a new generation of women to lead on and off the pitch; and

revamping Australia's football national knock-out competition by allocating a qualifying slot into Asian football competitions, shifting the latter stage of the competition calendar from weekdays to weekends, and negotiating the final to be played on free-to-air TV.

They are some of the achievements of Australian football. Well done to Football Australia for emphasising that soccer is more than a game. It has its own global culture and it is a catalyst for social, economic and personal development. It has transformative power to foster unity and a sense of community. I have personally witnessed so many transformations across sports, multicultural communities and the tourism sector in South Australia. Go the Socceroos!