Grit. Courage. Composure. The epithets have been flying thick and fast this week for Socceroos defender Harry Souttar.
The towering centre-back has been singled out by many as Australia’s best player of the World Cup campaign. And it’s fair to say that things have been going well for the whole Australian defence so far, but they’re about to get Messi.
Harry Souttar.Credit:AP
Socceroos legend Milan Ivanovic, who marshalled the defence when Australia faced Diego Maradona’s Argentina in World Cup qualifying in 1993, thinks Souttar is the man to stop the Lionel Messi-led South Americans this time around.
“He has been unbelievable really,” Ivanovic said. “Regarding Harry, what can you say? Obviously, his presence, what it means for the team, is very strong. When you see someone that big, sometimes you think ‘well he’s good in the air but maybe not so much on the ground’. But he is a cultured player, he is intelligent, he reads the game very well and that gives him that extra metre.”
