Nestory Irankunda was back in Adelaide for one week, squeezed into the gap between the end of his season with Watford and Australia’s pre-World Cup training camp in Florida. The 20-year-old arrived late for a photo shoot and interview, 45 minutes behind schedule, but the delay only added to the sense that he is already being pulled in several directions at once.
That is why people are searching his name now. He is not just a young player coming home on leave; he is being talked about as the Socceroos’ wildcard at this World Cup, a teenager no longer, but still young enough that his next step feels like part of Australia’s wider search for a main man after Tim Cahill. Watford have been his club in the English Championship, the tier below the Premier League, and the move between club football in England and national-team duty in Florida is now his reality.
The reputation around Irankunda is already outsized. Graham Arnold once tipped him to become Australia’s greatest ever player, and Javi López said the only player he had seen who looked as impressive at that age was Lionel Messi. Irankunda has pace, power and a shot that has been described as firing like a bazooka. He has broken a soccer net with his kicking power, can moonwalk and backflip, and recently unveiled a Michael Jackson-inspired dance move after scoring a goal. At 20, he has already become the kind of name that arrives with its own mythology.
But the person in Adelaide was not the same as the highlight reels. Susana said he is shy when he does not know people, and then opens up once he feels comfortable. That fitted the long wait and the slow start, when he seemed reluctant to sit down and talk before loosening up. The contrast matters because it shows the shape of the player underneath the noise: quiet at first, then suddenly impossible to miss. For Australia, that is exactly the profile it wants heading into a World Cup cycle.
What comes next is straightforward. Irankunda is due to join Australia’s pre-World Cup training camp in Florida, where the promise around him will have to meet the demands of international football. If he is to become more than a prospect with a spectacular turn of pace and a famous celebration, that camp is the next place he has to prove he belongs.
