No fear over ACL call-up
BABY-FACED Birkan Kirdar may have been stunned by his late Asian Champions League cameo call-up, but he wasn’t scared.
The youth team star was promoted to the Victory bench for the first time with a host of stars rested for Sunday’s elimination against Adelaide United.
Sirdar, an attacking midfielder, thought he would be an unused sub, before getting the heads-up that he would come on, becoming Victory’s youngest ever debutant at 16 years and 70 days.
The Year 11 student was unfazed, flying in for tackles and duelling at one stage with Brazilian ace Hulk, who’s twice his age and almost appeared twice his size.
“Nah, I’m not scared. I wanted to get in there. I’m not afraid, I just want to get out there and do my thing and (the rest takes care) of itself,’’ Kirdar said.
“That boosted my confidence a lot. Pretty big from NPL level to an ACL game playing against Hulk. It’s a good experience though, very good.
“I felt good coming on, getting out there with the older boys, good experience.
“The ground was a bit wet, so I was slipping a bit. But it was good.”
Victory coach Kevin Muscat said Kirdar’s debut sent a message to the entire youth setup.
“You get opportunities and chances if you earn it,’’ Muscat said.
“Young Birkan’s come in with us when he was 15 and trained with the first team on a few occasions and gradually been joining first team. He’s gone away and plays regularly for the youth team, he’s been excelling.
“Based on the circumstances I thought it was a nice little reward for him to get him on, but it’s more for his efforts over a period of time and doing the right thing and it sends the right message to the rest of the youth team and the rest of the club — you get your head down, work hard and excel, you get rewarded.”