Socceroos coach Tony Popovic has praised former A-League prodigy Nestory Irankunda for his growing maturity and realisation that “talent is not enough”.
Irankunda, 20, scored a brace after coming off the bench in Australia’s 5-1 thrashing of Curacao in Melbourne on Tuesday.
The Watford winger now has five goals in 13 appearances for the Socceroos and looms as a key part of Australia’s attacking plans at the June-July FIFA World Cup,
However, it’s not just Irankunda’s goals that are pleasing Popovic.
“He’s a young man that’s just growing in maturity, not just on the field but off the field,” Popovic said of the former Adelaide United star, who before his move last season to the English Championship had stints with German giants Bayern Munich and Swiss club Grasshoppers.
“He’s living on his own. He first goes to Bayern, which is a big jump, a huge jump, if you have a look at the world-class players and that they have there, and then Grasshoppers, now Watford, he’s is in the national team, so he’s adapting (and) he’s learning.
“He’s a very good young man. We’ve always had good relationship, and we just want him to get better.”
Popovic said Irankunda’s performance on Tuesday was evidence of what he could do when his mind was “clear”.
“That’s progression, because maybe in (the) October (and) November (international windows), his mind wasn’t so clear, and you can already see (the change) four or five months later,” the Socceroos boss said.
“It’s normal. He’s young … he’s a wonderful talent, and we want him to be happy, we want him to enjoy his football, but we also want him to understand that he needs to work.
“Talent is not enough. It never has been. He’s starting to understand the other parts of the game that make a difference.
“He wants to learn. He wants to get better at all aspects, and with good people around him, he can just keep growing and improving.”
Popovic liked the nature of Irankunda’s goals on Tuesday night when he twice scored from inside Curacao’s penalty area rather than from outside the box with his customary long-distance strikes.
“We know he has the shot from outside the box. You know that he’ll do one of those every year, regardless of where he plays,” Popovic said.
“But both goals (against Curacao) were good goals, because … the first one, he dribbles one-on-one, which is great, and the second one, he makes a nice little run in the box.
“We want that to continue.”
Irankunda celebrated the first of his two goals with backflips and a silver-gloved salute to late pop star Michael Jackson.
“I am a huge ‘MJ” fan,” Irankunda told Network 10.
“It’s great to score from open play again. I’m just happy with the work that I’ve put in. I’m happy with the performance and doing what the boss (Popovic) wants me to do.”
