At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Harry Souttar rallied back from a ruptured ACL to play a starring role in the Socceroos’ unlikely push to the knockout stages. Fast forward four years, and it’s a similar story for the towering defender; the 27-year-old has only recently returned to action from a torn Achilles that robbed him more than a year of his career, and is again out to prove his fitness to his coach.
Those of a more seasoned vintage might also note that Socceroos head coach Tony Popovic is familiar with what Souttar is going through. Popovic knows exactly what a dedicated mindset and proven veteran can bring to the fold off the back of very little football, having himself gone through a similar experience over 20 years ago.
Heading into the Socceroos inter-confederational qualifiers against Uruguay in 2005, then Socceroos boss Guus Hiddink was faced with a similar conundrum to that which confronts the current coach.
Five months before what would be one of Australian football’s most famous nights in Sydney, Popovic had been scythed down by Bastian Schweinsteiger at the Confederations Cup. He was stretchered off with an ankle injury that resulted in Football Federation Australia lodging a complaint with Fifa after the Germany midfielder, in the pre-VAR age, escaped sanction for his challenge. Popovic had hardly played any football since, logging just a single League Cup appearance for Crystal Palace and 57 minutes for Australia in a 7-0 thumping of the Solomon Islands. It was expected that Ljubo Milicevic, playing Champions League football with Swiss side FC Thun, would start in his place.
But Popovic was determined to do whatever he could to prove he was an option. He ended up doing far more than that: he started both games and played a full 90 minutes in the first leg in Montevideo. And while he was withdrawn early on in the second leg after picking up a yellow card – Hiddink would later say that his withdrawal for Harry Kewell was a planned one – he played a key role in overcoming the intimidatory tactics of the Uruguay team battle. Legend tells of him and Uruguayan striker Richard Morales gripping each other by the throat in the Stadium Australia tunnel before kick-off.
As he prepares to become the first Australian to both play and coach at a World Cup, Popovic clearly has some level of insight into what a player like Souttar is capable of. But coming off an Achilles rupture – sometimes considered the worst possible injury for a footballer – that is easier said than done. The devastating effect the injury can have on a player’s ability to accelerate and leap – think back to Souttar’s performance against Tunisia four years ago to remember how important those aspects of his game are – is well established. And there is no bigger crucible than the intensity and stakes associated with a World Cup.
Fortunately for Souttar, he was one of the first players to arrive at the Socceroos’ pre-tournament in Sarasota, Florida, in early May, giving him ample time to build his physical baseline and demonstrate it to Socceroos staff, who were putting him through his paces at the IMG Academy even before Popovic landed in the United States.
When fit, which has not been as often as he would have hoped for, Souttar is a foundational piece for the Socceroos backline – an obvious difference maker ever since he was plucked from the Scottish youth ranks by Graham Arnold and handed a debut for the Olyroos in steamy Phnom Penh during AFC Under-23 Championship qualifying. Put him next to Alessandro Circati and Cameron Burgess at a World Cup and you’ve got one of the most imposing Australian backlines in years.
His great height ensures he is a bastion of defensive solidity against any opponent seeking to attack Australia through the air, but, at the same time, he possesses a deftness of touch and movement, combined with a sense of timing and anticipation that allows him to stage interventions along the ground that belie his beanpole frame. His leadership, meanwhile, through both words and actions, is easily recognisable. He insisted on speaking up in the immediate aftermath of Australia’s elimination at the Asian Cup in 2023, when Mitch Duke and Lewis Miller received death threats on social media before they had even boarded the team bus, and he is always willing to go into battle for his teammates.
Souttar arrived in Florida off the back of two starts for Leicester – who were already relegated at that point – but he was one of, if not the best on the field for the Foxes. Those performances impressed the national team boss.
“If you watch [Souttar] perform, and you watch those two games, there is presence, there is aura, and there is a leader,” Popovic said before departing Australia. “You can’t get that in a young player overnight. That takes time. He’s done it at a World Cup when he played, also underdone.”
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