Socceroos hero Harry Souttar reveals why he refused to swap shirts with anyone at the World Cup – and the only downside to Australia’s incredible campaign in Qatar
Harry Souttar has returned to the winter league grind as one of England‘s most coveted targets after his World Cup heroics – and has revealed the only downside to playing in the competition and why he refused to swap shirts with anyone.
Stoke City‘s centre back returned to England as one of the most talked about ‘discoveries’ on the global stage after some monumental performances at the back helped Australia surpass expectations by reaching the last 16.
Harry Souttar has returned to the winter league grind as one of England’s most coveted targets after his World Cup heroics – and has revealed the only downside to playing in the competition and why he refused to swap shirts with anyone
Stoke City’s centre back returned to England as one of the most talked about ‘discoveries’ on the global stage after some monumental performances at the back helped Australia surpass expectations by reaching the last 16
But before being thrown back into the fray in England’s second-tier Championship at the weekend as he helped Stoke earn a valuable point in a 2-2 draw with Cardiff, Souttar reflected on how life has changed since his duels with the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi in Qatar.
‘There’s been a little bit of noise,’ Souttar shrugged in an interview with his local station, BBC Radio Stoke.
‘That’s for other people to talk about. I’ll just concentrate on the job in hand. I was focused only on the football going into the tournament, and didn’t take much notice of it.
‘My whole concentration now is on Stoke City,’ he said of his side who have a battle on their hands as they lie 18th of 24 in the Championship.
The 24-year-old colossus reflected on how much he’d ‘loved every minute of the whole experience’, suggesting that there was only one pitfall in the Socceroos spending more time out in Qatar than anyone had a right to expect
The 24-year-old colossus reflected on how much he’d ‘loved every minute of the whole experience’, suggesting that there was only one pitfall in the Socceroos spending more time out in Qatar than anyone had a right to expect.
‘The only downside was that I came back home to find all the milk in the fridge had gone off!’ he said.
Souttar reckoned the thrilling last-16 duel against Argentina would stay in his memory for ever.
‘Messi is the best player who has ever played the game in my opinion. It was so difficult to defend against him,’ he said.
While some of his teammates sought shirt-swapping exchanges with opposition players, Souttar (pictured with Aussie keeper Mat Ryan) decided to keep his after some helpful maternal advice. ‘I didn’t swap shirts with anyone as it was my first World Cup,’ he said
‘We played well but sometimes that’s just what the world’s best players do – they win games with that little bit of magic.
‘But I will look back in years to come and realise how thankful I am to have played against him.’
While some of his teammates sought shirt-swapping exchanges with opposition players, Souttar decided to keep his after some helpful maternal advice.
‘I didn’t swap shirts with anyone as it was my first World Cup,’ he said. ‘So I’ve kept all my tops.
‘My mum always said to me, ‘I don’t want to see you swapping shirts with anyone’.’
Advertisement