He was an instant success there with Ukrainian Essendon Lions before transferring to Sydney to join the Prague club in 1970, and later playing at APIA Leichhardt, in the New South Wales First Division.
He made his Australian debut against an England XI in 1971, going on play 57 times for his country (although he also accrued caps in "B" team fixtures, bringing the total to 102) in a career spanning a decade.
The Jimmy Rooney Medal, awarded from 1992 onwards to the man of the match in the Victorian Premier League Grand Final, was named in his honour.
Rale Rasic gave his first Australian cap versus the touring British club in 1971 and also he turned into a fixture at the national side contributing up to this World Cup in 1974, playing midfield alongside a second nuggety Scot, Jimmy Mackay.
The set has been that the engine part of this Socceroos, mixing substantial work-rates with incisive distribution and also the skill to alter a match using an act of brilliance as it had been wanted.