Ex-Dundee United kid Harry Souttar is set to face Lionel Messi in the last 16 of the World Cup with Australia.
The Brechin City-daft star has been a rock in defence for the Socceroos in Qatar, with his displays drawing praise from some of football’s top pundits.
After his latest incredible performance in Australia’s 1-0 win over Denmark, the Stoke City star’s name was the one on everyone’s lips.
The spotlight will be on the ex-Tangerine again on Saturday when Australia square up to Argentina – and he attempts to shackle superstar Messi.
If the opinions of the game’s biggest pundits hold any weight, the 24-year-old is in with a serious chance.
Danny Murphy
“He’s really dominant at set plays, is Souttar,” said former Liverpool and Fulham midfielder Murphy. “That quickness of thought, spotting danger — he’s a talent.
“His distribution has been really good in these games. He really does have a lovely ping. He plays those long balls really well.”
Following a stunning late tackle to preserve Australia’s lead against the Danes, Murphy added: “He’s like superman back there!
“Souttar has been absolutely brilliant. The centre-halves have been tremendous”
Alan Shearer
BBC pundit Alan Shearer said at half-time against Denmark: “It was a really well worked goal. It was a theme that Souttar can do that (pick out a raking pass) — and has done it several times, playing that pass out to Leckie.
“Souttar was able to do that, whether to the left-hand side or the right-hand side. On that occasion it was the right.”
Chris Sutton
Former Celtic and England striker Chris Sutton tweeted: “Harry Souttar absolutely immense for Australia.”
Harry Souttar absolutely immense for Australia🇦🇺👏👏
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) November 26, 2022
Mark Schwarzer
“You need to understand, Harry Souttar has played so little football in the last 12 months,” former Aussie international keeper Schwarzer told the BBC.
“So, to do what he did (against Tunisia)? We’ve got high hopes for him.
“Before he got injured, there was so much talk about him moving on and joining a Premier League side.
“And I’ve got no doubt he will be snapped up, because he is such a good player and he’s a great guy to have around the group; a great pro.”
Sasa Ognenovski
The 22-times-capped Aussie ex-centre half said: “He’s just a nice, clean, hard, simple defender.
“He does his job defensively – he doesn’t complicate things, try to dribble out the back. He doesn’t do anything spectacular, but he just defends really well. He knows when to hit a long pass, when to hit a short pass.
“He made every tackle, it was physical. You see a lot of centre-halves these days that just want to win the ball cleanly all the time and not go to ground.
“You just have to put your body on the line. It’s as simple as that, and really effective.
“He, in the last game in particular, did it really well.”
Micah Richards
Micah Richards said before the Denmark game: “He’s been out for a year with a bad injury, he had a cruciate, but look at that: 12 caps, six goals. He’s got a better record than some of the strikers in this tournament.
“In terms of his defensive capabilities, he was brilliant (against Tunisia). Being 6ft 6in, normally it’s difficult to deal with agile players but in the game against Tunisia his positioning was outstanding. When you talk about positioning for a centre-back and making the right decisions, everything he did in this game was just spot on.
“Whether it was reading it, whether it was stepping out or coming out and heading it or holding his line, everything was perfect.
“But my favourite clip…”
“This is one of the highlights of the World Cup,” slipped in host Mark Chapman, as the film showed Souttar chasing down Taha Yassine Khenissi for a probable goal-saving slide tackle.
Richards continued: “It is! His friend Rowles is down and out but look at this challenge. Have some of that! This is what we want to see at the World Cup. Have some of that. Talk about passion. That’s everything you want to see.
“(Goal scorer, Mathew) Leckie mentioned spirit in his post-match interview and that was summed up by Souttar today.”
Pat Nevin
Pat Nevin, commentating for BBC 5Live, said during the closing stages of a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Denmark: “Ok, you’ve got to love Souttar. You’ve got to absolutely love him.
“Obviously, people will have seen him in his time at Stoke. He has been a one-man defence (for Australia) at the moment. It seems he’s got a magnet in his head – everything is going to his head just now.
“On that occasion, he’s done a sliding tackle in the box – he’s got to get it right… he did get it right.”
Jermaine Jenas
He said: “It’s testament to the lad, as simple as that. He’s obviously worked his socks off to get back into shape and be where he is now. You have these moments where you want to trust your knee again and can you do things as sharply? He’s obviously put in the work to get him out here.
“There is no better place because he’s going to be running on adrenaline in each game. It’s the biggest stage for him to play at. He’s obviously a top professional and he’s put in two huge performances for his country.”
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