Doha: As a diehard fan since he was a kid, who was draped in the national flag at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion in Kaiserslauten when Tim Cahill and John Aloisi put Japan to the sword, and who still gets giddy when famous ex-players say hello, Jackson Irvine is as well-placed as anyone to assess where performances sit in Socceroos history.
And especially since, from the base of midfield, he had front-row tickets to the Harry Souttar show in Al-Wakrah.
“It’s right up there,” Irvine said.
“Right up there with the very best defender, midfielder, forward – it’s one of the best individual displays I’ve seen. But he doesn’t need to be told that. He’s one of the first ones back in the dressing room to say we go again – that’s the kind of person and player he is. He wants to always push us and push everybody further. He’s a leader at his age already.
“That moment, that tackle, it was celebrated almost more than the goal, I think, in certain ways. That will be one that’s played for years to come.”
That tackle was the one where Souttar got his centre-back partner out of jail in the 86th minute, after Kye Rowles slipped and opened the door for Tunisia’s Taha Yassine Khenissi, who was through on goal and poised to equalise.
Until the affable lad from Aberdeen came from the clouds and threw one of his endless limbs in the way.
“He’s a man mountain,” said Jamie Maclaren.
Added Riley McGree, his touring roommate: “He’s massive, isn’t he? Literally massive, But he can move, and he can play, and he’s a very important player for us, so big respect for him and all the defenders, actually.”
There were probably almost a dozen moments others like it from Souttar; desperate acts that will forever be remembered in the story of how Australia’s team snared three precious points at the Al Janoub Stadium, and how he defied the odds to help protect them from a Tunisian tsunami.
Harry Souttar’s sensational tackle against Tunisia.Credit:SBS
Barely 12 months ago, he was strewn 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.
“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.
“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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