Lucas Herrington made waves with an impressive debut for Premier League side Hull City in their 2-0 win over Manchester United – but he wasn’t the only Socceroo playing abroad.
A World Cup hero made a crucial save; Nestory Irankunda packed plenty into his cameo appearance on debut for Portuguese club Sporting CP; while Australian football’s greatest recent ‘what if’ led Portsmouth to an emphatic EFL win.
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IRANKUNDA’S WHIRLWIND DEBUT
Nestory Irankunda needed just 22 minutes to confirming to Sporting CP fans the prodigious talent they have on their books.
Playing his first game for the Portuguese giant after a $32.5 million move from Watford, the 20-year old didn’t finish with an assist in a 3-1 win over Alverca – but it wasn’t for lack of trying.
The Socceroos gun produced a trademark run and clever cutback close to goal to set up a golden scoring chance in stoppage time, only for teammate Issa Doumbia to miss the opportunity.
Irankunda finished with 19 touches and 11 carries, going 3 for 3 from ground duels won and finishing with an 80 per cent passing accuracy rate, while drawing two fouls.
All up, he created three chances from his 22 minutes on.
Sporting manager Rui Borges said before the game the Australian was “a player we wanted a lot”.
“(He’s) a player with different characteristics from the ones we have, and personally I’m very anxious to work with him, to even better understand the characteristics that we think he can add to the team, and that makes us stronger,” coach Adam Kingsley said.
“That’s always our goal.”
Close friend Mohamed Toure had a tougher run for Norwich City in the EFL, going goalless in a 3-0 defeat to Millwall.
BEACH SHOWS WORLD CUP HEROICS WERE NO FLUKE
Having become an overnight sensation following his run of saves against Turkiye at the World Cup, Patrick Beach’s form has continued at club land.
After moving to French Ligue 1 club ES Troyes, Beach secured the switch to European football from Australia during the World Cup, when his run of epic saves made him a local hero.
Against Paris FC, who are led by former Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior, Beach finished with a clean sheet in the 0-0 draw.
He was made to work hard for it, with a late strike from Paris FC’s Ilan Kebbal deflected at full stretch.
The 23-year old, who has spent the last three seasons with A-League club Melbourne City, did more than enough to introduce himself to European football.
SOCCEROOS DEFECTOR’S STUNNING STRIKE
Ex-Socceroo Adrian Segecic led Portsmouth to an emphatic 3-1 win over Lincoln City with a thundering free kick.
The Imps were making their EFL return for the first time in 65 years, but were dealt an emphatic reality check.
Segecic’s strike saw the advantage doubled to 2-0 early in the match, before Lincoln who were saved from administration by fans in 2002, fought back with a Reeco Hackett penalty after a Zak Swanson handball just before half time.
The left-foot shot was too good for Lincoln’s wall and goalkeeper, finding the top corner with laser-like precision and bringing fresh heartache to Socceroos fans.
Segecic, who moved to Portsmouth in 2025 having begun at A-League club Sydney FC, caused a stir earlier this year when he announced he was switching his international allegiance to Croatia.
Having made sporadic appearances at U23, U20 and U17 level for Australia, the switch blindsided Football Australia officials, who saw the midfielder as a potential World Cup squad member.
He was called up by Tony Popovic in September last year for two matches against New Zealand, but didn’t receive a minute of game time in either match.
However, he wouldn’t make the squad for Croatia’s World Cup campaign.
Under FIFA rules, he will be ineligible to switch back to Australia once he makes his debut for the country.