Tasmania's own 'World Cup' tournament in 1991

Photo:  Apart from "The Mercury", I was also writing for Sydney's "Australian Soccer Weekly" in 1991 and here is one of my reports on the Tasmanian 'World Cup' series in ASW.

A Tasmanian ‘World Cup’ series was held at KGV in October and November 1991.

It was modelled on similar series that were held in the early 1970s.

Games were of one-hour duration until the semi-finals, when the full 90 minutes were played.

The tournament was won by Great Britain, who beat Croatia 3-1 in the final.

The two semi-finals saw Great Britain down Italy 2-1 and Croatia beat Australia 3-2.

Italy won the third-place game 3-1 against Australia.

The squads were:

Croatia:  M Begovic, Hegol, P Furjanic, R Furjanic, R Baric, I Kvesic, J Bacic, T Jelovic, S Puclin, I Bolonja, M Brkic, J Bologna, M Mesic, S Degac, J Dzelalija, Lakoseljac

Rest of the World:  Stewart, A Tassell, K Stanton, M Wesson, M Pitt, A Jones, C Pitt, L Ware, M Murray, T Huigsloot, R Huigsloot, M Shaw

Australia:  M Rhodes, P Thompson, G Lawler, I Smart, A Berry, M Edwards, R Kent, N Thomas, R Sanders, P Engels, C Nichols, M Sly, Kim Barker, Ken Barker, D Knezevic, R Jacobs

Tasmania:  P Schwarz, D Smith, D Bones, T Dale, C Hey, T Smith, M Collins, N Anis, J Carter, S Weller, W Iles, M Gadd, M Holloway, S Gorringe, S Barlow, D Williams

Italy:  F Mainella, F Previdi, N Di Martino, D Fraraccio, S Perri, R Schiro, L Taglieri, R Mastracola, S Pace, R Frediani, M Lapolla, Francesconi, F Perri, M Falzon

Photo:  Dominic Fraraccio (left), who played for Italy in the 'World Cup' series, with the author last year at Dominic's excellent  Paisano Pizza and Pasta Restaurant in Landsdowne Crescent in West Hobart.  Dominic was an Australian youth international.

Great Britain:  Smith, MacKay, M Leszczynski, Coppinger, Grueber, Pears, Parker, D Anderton, Walker, Barrell, Shepherd, B Anderton, T Wright, D Stoddart

Greece ‘Blue’:  G Kokkoris, T Tarros, P Tsakiris, K Tsiakis, P Vafakos, A Kantzos, G Hages, P Alexiadis, B Tsakiris, G Kalis, B Kolloas, A Rodman, H Hages

Greece ‘White’:  J Papastamatis, S Keskeridis, S Plomaritis, J Moutsatsos, M Nikitaris, Paradisis, Parolas, P Tsangaris, N Papastamatis, J Patiniotis, Manolaris, M Genaris, J Tsiakis, C Nikitaris

Group A comprised Great Britain, Australia, Tasmania and Greece ‘Blue’, while Group B was Italy, Croatia, Rest of the World and Greece ‘White.

The results as far as I have been able to ascertain from my notebook of 1991 were:

World Cup 1991

Great Britain 2 (Parker 19, Barrell 60) b Tasmania 2-0 (HT:  1-0)

Greece ‘Blue’ 2 (H Hages 35, Kantzos 40) lt Australia 3 (Sly 60, 68, Nichols 69) (HT:  1-0)

Croatia 2 (Moutsatsos 20 og, Lakoseljac 42) b Greece ‘White’ 1 (Hisiridis 66 pen) (HT:  1-0) (KGV 23 Oct 1991)

Italy 2 (Previdi 8, S Perri 25) dw Rest of the World 2 (M Pitt 28, C Pitt 67) (HT:  2-1)

Tasmania 2 (W Iles 36, M Collins 45) b Greece ‘Blue’ 0 (HT:  0-0) (KGV 30 Oct 1991)

Australia (Sly 70) dw Great Britain 1 (Shepherd 42) (HT:  0-0)

Italy 4 (Frediani 13, 50, Pace 25, Falzon 60) b Greece ‘White’-0 (HT:  2-0) (KGV 6 Nov 1991)

Croatia 2 (I Bacic 35, S Puclin 37) b Rest of the World 1 (C Pitt 30) (HT:  1-1) (KGV 6 Nov 1991)

Australia 5 (T Dale 21, R Sanders 55, 56, 58, K Barker 57) b Tasmania 1 (Jacobs 23) (HT:  1-1) (KGV 13 Nov 1991(

Great Britain 2 (D Anderton 37, B Anderton 60) dw Greece ‘Blue’ 2 (P Alexiadis 48 pen, Tsakiris 61) (HT:  0-0) (KGV 13 Nov 1991)

Italy (Frediani 17) lt Great Britain 2 (S Walker 49, C Shepherd 58) (HT:  1-1) (Semi-Final KGV 20 Nov 1991)

Australia 2 (K Barker 25, Nichols 45) lt Croatia 3 (I Kvesic 38, P Furjanic 56, Puclin 90) (HT:  2-1) (Semi-final, KGV 20 Nov 1991)

Australia 1 (P Engels 68) lt Italy 3 (L Taglieri 20, S Pace 65, R Frediani 90) (HT:  0-1) (Third-place Match, KGV 20 Nov 1991)

Croatia 1 (I Bolonja 80) lt Great Britain 3 (C Barrell 2, I Kvesic 60 og, C Shepherd 94) (HT:  0-1) (Final (KGV) 23 Nov 1991)

Some of the players went on to big things later after leaving Tasmania. 

Martin Collins (Tasmania) moved to Victoria and played at a high level.

Jonathon Carter (Tasmania) was selected in the Joeys and the Young Socceroos.  His father sadly passed away in Tasmania in the past year.

Scott Barlow (Tasmania) is the Chairman of A-League champions Sydney FC and has been for several years now.