Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has hailed the talents of towering 20 year old defender Harry Souttar as he fast tracks him into the senior squad.
The 198cm Stoke City defender was born in Aberdeen in Scotland in 1998 to his Aussie mum, and had been well down the pathway to represent the country of his birth.
His older brother John Souttar – who plays for Hearts in Edinburgh – already has three caps for Scotland after coming up through the youth ranks of the SFA system.
But Arnie and the FFA managed to lure Harry out of the Scottish development system – where had represented Scotland five times at youth level – to sign up for the green and gold.
He had his first two caps for the Olyroos earlier this year and now Arnie has fast-tracked him into the senior side for the friendly against Korea next month.
As the youngster in the side, he's the baby of the Socceroos squad – but Arnie was quick to point out: "He's a BIG baby at 1.98m!
"That's the benefits of myself working with the Olympic team as well. I can get to know the characters and the attitudes of the players."
Arnie added: "He's chosen to play for Australia and his brother's chosen to play for Scotland.
"Harry is a very mature 20 year old and he did exceptionally well for us in Cambodia and my expectations are that he will handle this level as well.
"It's about the growth of the Socceroos, it's about the depth. It's players pushing each other and giving me headaches for squad selections in the future."
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