Socceroos hero explains his magical tribute to Aussie icon
With one epic moment on the biggest stage, Nestory Irankunda has gone from a young Socceroos prodigy to a bona fide national hero.
The 20-year-old, who was born in a Tanzanian refugee camp but moved to Australia with his family as a baby, became the country’s youngest-ever World Cup goalscorer in the side’s stunning 2-0 upset over Turkiye on Sunday.
Nestory Irankunda celebrates his goal. AP
Irankunda has incredible potential, possesses plenty of confidence and knows how to back it up on the pitch, making him a clear future star of Aussie football.
And when he put the ball in the back of the net, Irankunda came out with a celebration that fans from Down Under know all too well, paying homage to Socceroos legend Tim Cahill by throwing some punches at the corner flag.
Asked why and when he decided to emulate Cahill, the answer was clear.
“Timmy Cahill is my biggest inspiration when it comes to football ... he is Australia’s greatest in my opinion,” Irankunda said post-game.
“I just thought if I scored, I would do the same as him and I got to do it.
“It’s effing unreal, it’s a dream come true. It feels amazing, you’ve got to thank the staff and the nation, they’ve all had the belief in me to do so well.
“Today, getting that goal was amazing, it’s a great feeling.”
He also admitted the external noise and criticism levelled towards the Aussies acted as fuel to the fire when they ran out against Turkiye.
“It was extra motivation,” Irankunda said.
“We don’t like to hear people talk bad about us, we’re a great team and people underestimate us a lot. We showed them today that we can play - they kept the ball a lot more, but who scored the goals? We scored the goals and showed them.
“You’ve gotta let these people talk, they can talk all they want but at the end of the day, we’re gonna put the performance on the field and we did that today.”
Irankunda, who plies his trade for English second-tier club Watford, could one day place himself alongside the likes of Cahill and scoring in his first World Cup game is already going to go down in the folklore of the round-ball game in Australia.
Mark Milligan - who played at four World Cup tournaments starting in 2006 - has seen Irankunda’s rise from a young age after spending time together at Adelaide United and believes his journey is only just getting started.
Nestory Irankunda has become a sensation. ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
“From the very beginning, I got to see him on a daily basis and knew the ability and talent that he had,” Milligan said on SBS.
“That was something you don’t see very often and it’s so nice to see him now, developing those other parts of his game as well. We knew he had that flair and explosiveness, but that discipline we’re seeing now ... he’s really maturing.”
One person who wasn’t surprised by Irankunda’s heroics in the green and gold was his father Gideon, who spoke to 9News Adelaide on Sunday night.
“My son’s a very good player. Another game in America, score another,” he said.
Irankunda and his Socceroos teammates will no doubt celebrate the victory before regrouping to take on the USA next weekend.
