Bayern Munich attacker Nestory Irankunda has been the single most hyped Australian footballing wonderkid for many years now, a player with genuine world class potential in a country that has been starved of star quality.
His tender age of 18 means that his involvement with the senior Australian national team has been very limited, though, with his first call up coming earlier this year, so it is rather understandable that many Australian fans will have seen him move to Bayern Munich this summer with considerable amount of excitement and trepidation. If he succeeds, he could do special things for the national side. If he does not, one of the country’s greatest footballing hopes could be extinguished.
As it stands, however, all the worrywarts are being proven wrong. Graham Arnold, head coach of the Australian men’s soccer team, revealed recently, as captured by @iMiaSanMia, that he spoke to Nestory Irankunda about his time so far at Bayern and that, so far, it has been very positive:
“It’s been a great start for the kid. René Meulensteen [assistant coach of the Australian national team] went to Bayern Munich to visit him and to see how he was and he’s in great spirits. He’s so happy. The move so far has been excellent for him
Obviously, I’ve been watching his games when he does come on or when he does play. But I’ve spoken to the kid, and he says he still pinches himself that he’s training with this calibre of players, and he’s only going to learn and get better from that. So it’s great that he’s fitted in very well and very quickly”
It is important to note that these are early days in Munich and that Irankunda will have to navigate a path past several extremely expensive stars to make it into the Bayern first team. But if he keeps it up, perhaps he truly will fulfill that exciting potential and become the star Australia has been crying out for since Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill.
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