The 1988 Australian Bicentennial Gold Cup was a one-off association football tournament to celebrate the bincentennial of first settlement at Port Jackson by Captain Arthur Phillip in 1788. It was contested by 1988 AFC Asian Cup winners Saudi Arabia, 1986 FIFA World Cup winners Argentina, world number one-ranked side Brazil and host nation Australia.[1][2][3]
| Organising body | Football Australia |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1988 |
| Abolished | 1988 |
| Region | Australia |
| Number of teams | 4 |
| Related competitions | Brazil Independence Cup |
| Last champions |  Brazil |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country |  Australia |
| Dates | 6–17 July 1988 |
| Teams | 4 |
| Venue(s) | 3 (in 3 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Brazil (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Australia |
| Third place |  Argentina |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 8 |
| Goals scored | 22 (2.75 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Charlie Yankos Frank Farina Hernán Díaz Romário Geovani Majed Abdullah (2 goals) |
The tournament was particularly notable for Australian fans for a remarkable extreme-long range goal scored by Charlie Yankos in Australia's unexpected 4–1 win over then World Champions Argentina.[4] Brazil were eventual winners, beating Australia 2–0 in the final.[5] Argentina took out 3rd place beating Saudi Arabia 2–0 in the third place match.
Participants edit
Format edit
Teams played each other once in a round robin group stage. Each team was awarded 2 points for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss. The top two teams from the group played in a final and the bottom two teams played in a 3rd place match.[6]
Summary edit
Group stage edit
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 5 |
| Australia |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 4 |
| Argentina |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 2 |
| Saudi Arabia |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 1 |
| Argentina | 2–2 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
Díaz  27', 50' (pen.) |
Report | Majed Abdullah 41' Díaz 61' (o.g.) |
| Australia | 3–0 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| Ollerenshaw 6' Farina 42', 81' |
Report |
| Brazil | 4–1 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| Geovani 27' (pen.), 50' Jorginho 28'Edmar 40' |
Report | Majed Abdullah 30' |
Third place edit
| Argentina | 2–0 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| Simeone 4' Dertycia 23' |
Report |
Final edit
          Australia
|
     Brazil
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Awards edit
| Australia Bicentenary Gold Cup |
|---|
 Brazil First title |
Statistics edit
Goalscorers edit
There were 22 goals scored in 8 matches, for an average of 2.75 goals per match.
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
Hernán Díaz (against Saudi Arabia)
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "The Forgotten Story of ... Australia's defeat to Fiji - Vince Rugari". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-07-09.
- ^ "The Sydney Morning Herald: national, world, business, entertainment, sport and technology news from Australia's leading newspaper". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 2015-07-09.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "Yankos vs Argentina 4-1 Best Ever Goal". Youtube. Retrieved 2020-04-21.[dead YouTube link]
- ^ "Socceroo 1988 Matches". Ozfootball.net. Retrieved 2015-07-09.
- ^ Miller, Toby; Lawrence, Geoffrey; McKay, Jim; Rowe, David (12 July 2001). Globalization and Sport. ISBN 9780761959694. Retrieved 2015-07-09.
External links edit
- Australia Bicentenary Gold Cup on the RSSSF