Col Curran, though, kept the faith.

Curran, now 74, is the only Novocastrian to have played at the men's World Cup.

"I thought they would win because of the do-or-die attitude of Australians," he said.

Curran, of Eleebana, said the Socceroos had faced a "hard road" to qualify for the tournament in Qatar in November/December.

He said qualification for the 1974 World Cup was "equally as hard".

"We were part-timers. We had to travel to Sydney for training and playing. It was hard playing overseas - the food, temperatures and crowds are different."

The 1974 World Cup was the first time the Socceroos qualified for the tournament. They had to get through a three-game play-off against South Korea.

"We drew the first game 0-0 in Sydney. The second game in South Korea, we were 2-0 down at half-time. We had to fight with backs to the wall. We got a 2-2 draw, so we had to play a decider in a neutral country - Hong Kong.

"We were fortunate enough to score the only goal with about 20 minutes to go. Then we defended and put everything into it. It was very hard. At the end, everyone went crazy. We were elated. It was the start of a new beginning."

Ray Baartz, another renowned Novocastrian footballer, played in that match.

He would have played at the '74 World Cup too, but his career was ended by a callous blow to the throat from a Uruguayan defender.

"He would have been a secret weapon at the World Cup because of the calibre of player he was," Curran said.

Curran said the feeling of playing in the World Cup was "something you can't explain".

"It's like winning the lottery. It wasn't expected of us, but we did it anyway," he said.

The Socceroos played against West Germany, East Germany and Chile, losing to the German sides and drawing with Chile.

"We won the German crowd over playing against the German sides because of our sportsmanship and never-say-die attitude."

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