Harry Souttar, the 27-year-old Australian national team defender, drew attention during the match against Egypt, which took place as part of the World Cup tournament held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
The Egyptian national team succeeded in overcoming its Australian counterpart through penalty kicks in a tough match that ended in a 1-1 draw in both regular and extra time. The match was held at Dallas Stadium as part of the World Cup round of 32.
Who is Harry Souttar?
Australian Harry Souttar, of Scottish descent, is one of the standout players in his national team, as the 1.98 cm tall defender plays for the English team Leicester City.
Souttar began his football career at Scottish club Dundee United, progressing through the youth ranks until reaching the first team in July 2016, before moving a few months later to English club Stoke City.
The defender remained with Stoke City for two seasons before moving on loan to Scottish club Ross County for a few months, then had several stints between Fleetwood and his English team, until he moved to Leicester City in January 2023.
Souttar moved to Sheffield United on loan for a season before returning to Leicester City, where the Scottish-descended player proved himself, but he suffered a severe injury that kept him away from his English club for a considerable time, limiting him to just two appearances in the past season.
On the national team level, Souttar played with Scotland's under-17 team in 4 matches and appeared with his home country in 3 matches in the subsequent age group (under-19).
Souttar chose to represent the Australian national team, joining the under-23 team and participating in 7 matches, then appeared with his country's Olympic team, making him eligible to continue the path he chose.
Souttar appeared with the Australian senior team on 42 occasions, and the tall defender succeeded in scoring 11 goals, most of which came from his positioning in the opponent's penalty area, taking advantage of his giant stature.
What did Souttar do against the Egyptian national team?
Harry Souttar started the match against the Egyptian national team as a starter and remained on the field until the final whistle blown by the match referee (120 minutes), announcing the Pharaohs' qualification to the round of 16 of the World Cup.
During the 120 minutes, Harry Souttar contributed defensively in 12 attempts, intervened twice, cleared the ball 7 times, and prevented 3 shots from reaching his goal, taking advantage of his strong build, and recovered the ball once.
Souttar won 10 aerial duels out of 12, reflecting the Australian defender's skill and quality in dealing with high balls, committing only 4 fouls.
Souttar touched the ball 82 times, lost possession 11 times, and delivered 56 accurate passes out of 67, with an 84% success rate.
Harry Souttar's contributions during the match prevented the Pharaohs from scoring on more than one occasion, which was evident given the strong build of the Australian player. However, he gifted the Egyptian national team when he missed the first penalty kick for his country.
This gave the Egyptian national team the advantage, as Mahmoud Saber stepped up and successfully scored the penalty kick, which gave the Pharaohs' players confidence until the end of that difficult period.
