Harry Souttar’s sensational tackle against Tunisia.Credit:SBS
Barely 12 months ago,he wasstrewn on the turf at CommBank Stadium in Sydney,his ACL torn in a 0-0 qualifying draw with Saudi Arabia,and with it,Australia’s hopes of getting to Qatar - or so it felt at the time.
Saturday’s 1-0 win was just his third senior game since recovering from his knee reconstruction and easily his best performance for Australia,the country where his mother was born and he has chosen to represent over Scotland,his actual homeland.
Their loss,Australia’s gain.
“It’s high praise coming from him,with the performance that he put in as well,” Souttar said when told of Irvine’s take on his game.
“I could go through the whole team and say what an unbelievable job they’ve done. Obviously we were hanging on for a little bit towards the end and the last 15-20 minutes,but I’m just so pleased to win ... just the relief[after] all the hard work that we’ve put in so far and over the qualification stage.”
Rowles probably owes him a six-pack,if not a carton,but Souttar won’t hear of it.
Harry Souttar uses his size to dominate a contest.Credit:Getty
“That’s what we pride ourselves on - we say before every game that if someone makes a mistake,someone else is going to cover,” he said.
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“If you look at the video back when I made the tackle,there’s five lads in the box,ready to defend it,so they’re sprinting back ... it’s the whole team thing. And when someone makes a mistake like I did the other night,and I’ve done today,there were other guys.”
On course for a transfer from Stoke City to the English Premier League before his injury,Souttar surely put himself back in the shop window with his herculean effort against Tunisia,which the numbers only go some way towards fully explaining:50 touches,seven recoveries,six clearances,three blocks,five completed long balls,and a 100 per cent tackle success rate - including one eternally memorable and instantly iconic last-man intervention.
“I’ve only played three games[since the injury],so I don’t think I’m 100 per cent. But I’ll give 100 per cent,everything I’ve got,” he said.
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“Towards the end there,you ask any of the lads,the legs were starting to go a little bit in the last 10 minutes. When I saw the six minutes added on,I thought,‘Right,we’ll just get through it.’ And we got through it in the end.
“The feeling was just amazing,I could talk about it all night,I’m just so pleased. But we’ve won one game. We’ve still got a huge,huge game to play for if we want to get out of the group against Denmark.”
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