Aussie football greats pay tribute to legendary former Socceroos boss Terry Venables: 'What a wonderful man he was'
Some of the biggest names in Australian football have paid gushing tributes to former Socceroos boss Terry Venables after the legendary manager lost his battle with a long illness.
The English great was a gifted, charismatic, influential coach who achieved much success, notably with Barcelona, and was popular with players and fans alike.
After taking England to the semifinals of the 1994 European Championships, he was persuaded to coach Australia, where he played briefly towards the end of his career for Canterbury-Marrickville Olympic, now known as Canterbury Bankstown.
It was hoped he could end a 24-year wait to appear in the World Cup finals, and he came to the brink of doing so.
With Venables coaxing the best of an exciting young squad including Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, Mark Bosnich, Robbie Slater, John Aloisi and Aurelio Vidmar, the Socceroos impressed in high-profile friendlies and swept Oceania qualifying to earn a play-off with Iran.
After a 1-1 first-leg draw in front of 129,000 in Tehran, Kewell scoring, Australia drew 85,000 to the MCG, double the then-record for a soccer match in Australia.
Kewell and Vidmar put them 2-0 up but, after an interruption by a pitch invader broke the momentum Iran struck twice in the last 15 minutes to take the place in France with a three-all draw.
The bulk of the stars from that side were left heartbroken at the news of Venables' passing and took to social media to share their admiration for their old boss.
Slater branded the football legend 'a mentor of mine' as he wrote, 'A great player and manager! RIP! Such a great man! Memories!'
Kewell posted a photo of himself and Venables when they were both at Leeds with the caption: 'Absolutely gutted. Thank you for everything. RIP Boss'.
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