‘He took his game to a whole new level at the World Cup’
THE international adventures of the Souttar brothers have already diverged to opposite ends of the globe.
As John plots an injury-free future that will see him establish himself with Rangers and Scotland, he dreams of facing off against his younger sibling Harry at the 2026 World Cup, a tournament that will be played across the continent of North America. ‘That would be good,’ beams John. ‘You never know.’
While John, 26, has progressed to full honours with the country of his birth, Harry, two years younger, has instead followed the path laid by his Australianborn mother, Heather.
Born and raised in Aberdeenshire, John and Harry were teenaged debutants for Dundee United. Yet while John amassed significant experience as part of an exciting young team including his now Scotland team-mates Andy Robertson and Stuart Armstrong, Harry had barely broken through before he was off.
Handed a debut in the final home game of season 2015-16, Souttar scored in the subsequent win at Kilmarnock and, after those two appearances, was transferred south to Stoke, aged just 17.
Capped just once by Scotland at Under-19 level, the possibility of switching nationality was realised in 2019.
Literally a stand-out player at
6ft 6in tall, he played for Australia at the Tokyo Olympics but looked a long shot for Qatar after enduring nearly a year out with a cruciate knee injury.
A short comeback of just two games for Stoke was sufficient to prove his fitness to Graham Arnold and make the cut for the World Cup. Widely praised for his performances in wins over Tunisia and Denmark, he helped the Socceroos reach the last 16, where they went out to eventual champions Argentina.
‘It was amazing to watch Harry do what he did after being out for a year,’ says John. ‘He had two games for his club then came back and played like that. Incredible. I was so proud watching him.
‘All the family were in Qatar. I never got out as I was doing my rehab but to watch it from home was unbelievable.’
Brendan Rodgers was clearly impressed, too. Come January, Harry was on his way to Leicester City in a £15million deal.
‘He took his game to another level out there and deserved his move,’ adds John. ‘Now it’s amazing to watch him in the Premier League with Leicester.’
For a short spell, it looked like they might both be going to Qatar 2022 as John’s memorable headed goal against Denmark secured Scotland a seeding for the play-offs.
Defeat to an emotionally-inspired Ukraine ended Scotland’s hopes and, even if Steve Clarke’s side had made it, John’s presence on the long-term injured list after aggravating an ankle problem on his Rangers debut would have ruled him out.
Now back and involved at club level, John admits thoughts of a Scotland recall are high on his priority list.
‘I’ve said before how much it means to me to play for my country, so that’s always a goal,’ he says. ‘I want to get in the Rangers team to prove that I play here.’