Socceroos get glimpse of exciting future as Toure and Irankunda sink New Zealand

The sound you can hear is the Australian football hype-machine kicking into overdrive. The “Soccer Ashes” have been retained, Tony Popovic remains unbeaten as national team boss, and Australia has been given a tantalising glimpse of the future after Mohamed Touré and Nestory Irankunda powered a 3-1 win over New Zealand in Auckland.

Touré, 21, and Irankunda, all of 19 years old, were the undisputed stars of the show on Tuesday evening, producing individual moments of brilliance that broke the game open and quickly had Socceroos fans’ thoughts turning to the World Cup in just under a year.

Popovic has become a master of ignoring external noise and meticulously following his own plans in pursuit of that global footballing showpiece – his young duo’s star turn came in the same game in which he left Portsmouth dynamo Adrian Segečić out of the squad entirely. That call was in keeping with Popovic’s habit of sitting youngsters in their first call-up – but this was a performance from both Touré and Irankunda to suggest there is ample substance beyond the hullabaloo.

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Indeed, long have the Socceroos sought a consistent, game-breaking presence in their attacking third. And now there are two banging in the goals at the same time. It seems the turn of Touré and Irankunda, the latter probably already having assumed that mantle, to carry the hopes of an attack that can prove just as lethal as the resolute defence that has provided the bedrock of recent success. If they can shoulder that burden of expectation – “the next Mark Viduka” has been a poisoned chalice bestowed on many an unfortunate chosen-one over the years – is a tale yet to be told, but Tuesday’s was a night to whet the appetite.

Bullying Tyler Bindon off the ball to latch onto a Connor Metcalfe pass before coolly gathering himself to slide a shot past keeper Max Crocombe, Touré helped spark what had been a mostly tepid Socceroos to life in the 34th minute. He was then on the scene when Irankunda doubled the lead in the 54th minute after steaming down the right on the counter. The 19-year-old ignored the option to square the ball to his teammate and instead weaved into the penalty area before sending a shot across the face of the All Whites keeper and inside the far post.

Chris Wood’s strike – the first All Whites goal against the Socceroos in more than 15 years – gave the hosts some semblance of hope of getting back into the contest three minutes after Irankunda’s effort. But that was quickly cancelled out, three minutes after that, when Touré grabbed his second: Metcalfe lunging across to direct the ball his way at the top of the box before he turned, breezed past Finn Surman and buried an effort beyond an on-rushing Crocombe. The older of the South Australian pair could have had a hat-trick just moments after that if not for the intervention of Var, which determined that Lewis Miller had been in an offside position before Touré sent the ball in for the striker to direct home.

Amidst all the excitement around his attacking teammates, it will probably fly under the radar that Metcalfe provided two assists, Alessandro Circati captained the side for the first time at just 21, and that Max Balard looked calm and comfortable in a long-overdue start for the national team.

But after making his first start and scoring his first goal for Australia, the game capped off a September window that couldn’t have gone better for Touré – this performance coming just days after he’d provided the match-winning assist to Balard in the first leg in Canberra.

“I’m so happy for him, because when he scores, it feels like it’s me that’s scoring,” Irankunda told Paramount. “We train every day together in the off-season. Our first five seasons as professionals were together. To do it for the national team as well has been amazing.”

Of course, his friend – Touré describes Irankunda as a “little brother” after the duo rose through the ranks of Adelaide United together – isn’t one to be outdone – almost providing the game with a pièce de résistance. An outrageous free kick in the 77th minute, one that had Crocombe dead-to-rights despite being lashed in from at least 30 yards out, with only the underside of the crossbar denying Irankunda another highlight goal to add to the collection he’s growing at Watford.

“When he shot, I almost died,” Touré said with a smile. “I couldn’t believe what’s going on.”

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