Nestory Irankunda and Cristian Volpato might be the Socceroos’ excitement machines, but in the shop window of this World Cup there is one model worth more than all others.
Lucas Herrington, who at 18 became the youngest Australian to start a World Cup match when the defender played against Paraguay, has already been linked with a move to Barcelona. Such is his trajectory, his next transfer is expected to fetch a price close to – or more than – the Australian record set by Harry Souttar, who was bought by Leicester for £15m (approximately A$26m) in 2023.
So when Souttar likens Herrington to the most expensive of all automotive brands – as he did after the match against Paraguay – it is a significant compliment. “You wouldn’t think that’s his first World Cup game. The guy was absolutely composed, calm,” he said. “You can see the guy’s like a Rolls-Royce.”
Herrington’s A-League club Brisbane Roar negotiated a 20% sell-on clause with Colorado when they sold him last year, but before the World Cup the club’s owners decided to cash in, for around A$500,000. The decision is likely to cost the club millions of dollars. The midfielder Connor Metcalfe said simply: “They’ll probably be kicking themselves.”
Herrington handles all this talk of transfers, and links to Barcelona, the same way he does a forward bearing down on him when he has the ball. He admits he has heard the speculation, and does not pretend it does not affect him, but he is attempting to remain focused on this tournament.
“I’m just trying to stay present and really enjoy this moment. It’s my first one, hopefully first of many, but it doesn’t come around very often,” he said. “I’m really just trying to put my best forward and work hard, and we’ll see what comes after it.”
Herrington has been a priceless addition to this World Cup squad. That 0-0 draw against Paraguay – and his starring role – turned out to be critical in securing Australia a place in the last 32. The players did not know it at the time but a 1-0 defeat, if all other results ended up the same, would have left Australia eliminated and Iran would have qualified.
The defender’s calm distribution, and his physical dominance in the air and on the ground even as Paraguay targeted the teenager in the first half, helped to secure Australia’s progress. It also enhanced his reputation, if that was possible for a player who in the past year has leaped from the A-League to matches against stars such as Lionel Messi, Thomas Müller and Son Heung-min in Major League Soccer, to the starting XI of a national side in the last 32.
Metcalfe said that what Herrington has been demonstrating at 18 has been “wild”, and his composure gives players around him confidence. “Nothing really fazes him, he never looks nervous, I’m not nervous when he has the ball,” he said. “Sometimes if a young player is playing, a lot of the other boys can be nervous they’re going to make a rash decision, but he is calm on the ball.”
Herrington himself cannot explain his otherworldly serenity. “I try to stay calm, I mean it’s not something that I work on. I think it might just come naturally, but I just believe in my abilities, believe in the team’s abilities and just play what’s in front of me.”
His World Cup debut against Paraguay was later than many expected. Herrington started both Socceroos’ warm-up matches, but the more experienced Cam Burgess was preferred for the matches against Turkey and the USA. Some eyebrows were raised when it was Jason Geria, not Herrington, who was brought on for Burgess against the USA.
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Finally, in the days before the Paraguay clash, the head coach, Tony Popovic, told Herrington he would get his chance. “I was ready for all three games and I just wanted to be involved, so when I got the nod for the Paraguay game I was over the moon,” the defender said.
“I let my parents know. Mum was a bit nervous but she was more excited than anything and I just wanted to really remember it as the proudest moment of my life and just really enjoy it.”
The Herrington story was made all the more incredible last week when a video of the Brisbane fan zone during the 2022 World Cup was unearthed by the football website Football 360. It showed a 14-year-old Herrington – with unmistakably lanky frame topped with curly hair – watching the Socceroos with his friends.
“I’ve been supporting the Socceroos at the World Cup for as long as I can remember, so to be here is special and my mates back home are also supportive,” Herrington said. “It’s another one of those moments that I pinch myself, and just try and make everyone from where I’m back from just proud and give them someone to look at, [and show] that they can do it as well.”
Herrington was grateful when told on Sunday of Souttar’s praise in his press conference, and the young defender was given a choice of another automative brand to which he might be more comfortable being likened. “No, I’m happy with Rolls-Royce,” Herrington said. “I’ll take that.”
