Socceroos legend Harry Kewell has urged Australia to make the most of their limited scoring opportunities at the FIFA World Cup and not squander the exceptional talents of Nestory Irankunda. Kewell, who will be part of the SBS broadcast team during the tournament, does not anticipate a World Cup of free-flowing football due to its structure and the expected high temperatures in the USA, Canada, and Mexico.
Kewell's Tactical Insights
The former Leeds and Liverpool star predicted that the compact Socceroos would employ a stifling brand of football and look to hurt opponents on the counter-attack. "When we get our opportunities to attack, it's whether we can be deadly enough," Kewell said. "We may only get one or two opportunities in a game. Hopefully, we get more, but we need to be able to strike in those moments."
Irankunda's Potential
This is why Kewell tipped 20-year-old attacking weapon Irankunda to be crucial to Australia's hopes of reaching the knockout stages. "Irankunda, he's interesting for me," Kewell said of the former A-League prodigy who has just completed his first season with English Championship club Watford. "I don't want to put too much pressure on him, but what I want to see is for him to go out and enjoy himself. He's had a tough season. The Championship is a tough league, but you can see he's powerful, and you can see he's strong."
Kewell was impressed by what he saw from Irankunda in Australia's 1-1 draw with Switzerland in last Sunday's World Cup warm-up clash in San Diego. "The athleticism of him, the way he got could get knocked down but got straight back up again … in the second half, he took the ball down just outside the box on his chest, got knocked down, sprang back up and sprinted forward – that excites me," Kewell said. "He had a ferocious shot in the second half. He pushed off and he let go – I had to rewind it a couple of times. The keeper made a great save in tapping it on to the bar. They're the type of things you want to see in games. Hopefully, we can create opportunities for him to be able to create those moments."
Tournament Outlook
Kewell said he would have preferred Australia's opening Group D match to be against the US rather than Turkiye. The Socceroos meet the Turks in Vancouver on Sunday (AEST) before taking on the Americans in Seattle on June 20 and Paraguay at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium on June 26. "If I could restructure the group, I would change the first game and play USA," Kewell said. "(Turkiye) will be the strongest in the group, and if they get off to a great start, they may rest one or two players towards the end of it. If we can get something against them great, but if we don't, it's going to put us in a tough position in the games against America and Paraguay because we're going to have to go for it."
On Saturday at 7pm on an eBay Live streaming event (Harry Kewell's all-time XI, Live! – eBay Live), Kewell will reveal his all-time best 11 players he has shared the field with. Fans will be able to buy the full collection of cards, as well as other Kewell memorabilia, during a special "Penny Drop" moment at the end of the stream.
