Socceroo and Marconi stalwart Ivo Prskalo has passed away this morning after a long battle with cancer.

Former national team and club teammate Eddie Krncevic was shatttered to hear of Prskalo's passing.

"Krncevic hails former Socceroos legend Prskalo ..." Krncevic told tribalfootball: "What a shock I had just a few moments ago when Berti Mariani rang me from Sydney to tell me that our mate Ivo Prskalo has passed away.

"Ivo was only 62 and to lose him now is awful. Ivo was my mentor when I was in the Socceroos. I was only 19 and Ivo was well into his 30's so he passed on many great tips that helped me with my career.

"After losing another team mate in Martyn Crook last year, to have Ivo go as well makes you think how the years pass and we all get older. Anyway Ivo deserves his place in the history of Australian soccer and I hope the Socceroos wear black arm bands when they play Switzerland this week in honour of Ivo.

"Prskalo was born in 1948 in Bosnia (then Yugoslavia) and like so many of the men who wore the green and gold of that era, Ivo was one of the generation of adopted Australians who set the Socceroos on their way to where we sit now."