‘Experience only does so much’: A world of possibilities awaits the Socceroos
Vancouver: The youngest Socceroos team in World Cup history just knocked off Turkey, the Euro 2024 quarter-finalists, the self-appointed dark horses of the tournament, the nation of Arda Guler, Kenan Yildiz, Hakan Calhanoglu and nearly 90 million football obsessives.
A starting line-up with an average age of 24.6, from an allegedly false football country, just shocked the world.
Cameron Burgess, 30, the oldest player out there for Australia, looked around and realised he was surrounded by change.
To his right was Harry Souttar, 27, the only starter for the Socceroos who had played at a World Cup before Saturday night in Vancouver.
Behind Burgess was Patrick Beach, the 22-year-old goalkeeper who nobody expected would play ahead of captain Maty Ryan. Beach made a string of truly world-class saves among a record-breaking tally of eight – more than any other Australian has pulled off in a World Cup match.
To his left was Jordan Bos, the 23-year-old wing-back with a perpetual engine. In front of him was Paul Okon jnr, the 21-year-old midfielder who has pace, power, poise, passing range, positional prowess and a pretty big future.
And in front of him was Nestory Irankunda, the 20-year-old dynamo who rocketed himself to national fame and international intrigue with his brilliant goal.
“They all stepped up, to a man,” Burgess said.
Suddenly, the outlook for this team has changed completely. If that’s what’s possible with these players, what else could be? Forget the next World Cup. How far can they go here and now?
That precise thought seemed to be whirring in the minds of Australia’s newest heroes in the hours following their 2-0 win over Turkey – a result they were still trying to process for themselves, even though they’ve always believed they could pull it off.
Alessandro Circati, the 22-year-old defender on the opposite edge of the Socceroos’ relentless back three to Burgess, came through the mixed zone with a chuffed look on his face, as if everyone else could now see what he already knew.
“It was a very, very young team out there. But experience only does so much,” he said.
“I think it’s energy, the energy that the team has, the eagerness to win duels, to win races - that gets you over the line in the end, and we did just that. We had to block whatever we could block, win whatever we could win. Waste some time where we could waste some time. It’s all part of the game. We did really well in that, and that’s why we won.”
Mohamed Toure, the 22-year-old striker who brilliantly led Australia’s attacking line, was spot on, in the end, with his pre-game prediction. He told this masthead that modern football was now a young man’s game, and that “the guys with the biggest hearts and the best mindset kill this tournament” – not necessarily the biggest names, or the biggest resumés.
“We have a great group of boys, very talented,” he said. “A lot of people say we’re too young, but I feel like if we have a game plan, and we can stick to it, we can get results.”
And to think that Lucas Herrington, the 18-year-old being chased by Barcelona, of all teams, wasn’t even involved.
Milos Degenek, the 32-year-old veteran, was another unused substitute, but told reporters he felt like he’d just played 95 minutes and scored a hat-trick.
“It’s really special, man,” he said.
“Not just for me. But look: from the first XI, 10 boys never played a World Cup game, and they look like this is the third World Cup. They looked like me out there.
“I’m over the moon. I want this to continue. I don’t want this to end, but we have to stay humble. We have to stay on the ground. Work hard again tomorrow, do everything right – and this shows that every little detail the boss pays attention to is worth paying attention to.”
The only real concern to emerge from the clash surrounded Toure, who went down with cramp in his calf in the second half and needed help from an opponent to stretch it out and be able to continue. At first, he thought he’d properly injured himself, and waved to the bench as if to signal that.
“I thought it was worse than it was, because it just came out of nowhere. It could be a tear, so now I have to see what happens. We’ll ice it up, and we’ll see. It’s a bit sore now,” Toure said.
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Vince Rugari is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.