<\/p>\n
Australian soccer wunderkind Nestory Irankunda has sensationally threatened to play for another country if he does not start getting selected by the Socceroos.<\/p>\n
The Bayern Munich-bound teenager dropped the huge bombshell after taking part in the A-League Men\u2019s All-Stars\u2019 8-0 demolition of a severely-depleted Newcastle United side at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.<\/p>\n
Irankunda was born in a Tanzanian refugee camp and his parents are from Burundi, so he is eligible to play for either country.<\/p>\n
The 18-year-old, who has scored 16 goals from 60 matches with Adelaide United, including a memorable hat-trick against Western United in March, is yet to represent Australia.<\/p>\n
The closest he has come is being a train-on player for two friendlies against Ecuador last year.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah of course,\u201d Irankunda said when asked if he would seriously consider playing for another country if he kept getting overlooked by Socceroos coach Graham Arnold.<\/p>\n Irankunda said he initially hoped that his move to Europe would enhance his chances of playing for Australia, but he is now non-committal on the prospect.<\/p>\n \u201cAs of now I\u2019m not too sure how things are going to go,\u201d Irankunda said.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t been called up for a few of the squads now. I\u2019m still thinking on what I\u2019m going to do in the future at national level so we\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m still eligible for Tanzania and Burundi as well but obviously it\u2019s a dream of mine to play for the Socceroos and if the opportunity comes again then hopefully it comes sooner and I take it.\u201d<\/p>\n ALM All stars absolutely PUMP Newcastle | 01:26<\/p>\n Arnold was in attendance at Marvel Stadium and would\u2019ve been more than an interested onlooker as Irankunda made a splash as a constant attacking menace down the right after entering the game in the 70th minute.<\/p>\n \u201cI reckon I showed the people at the game what I can do and hopefully Arnie has seen it and if not then I can\u2019t really say much,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Socceroos are next in action in June when they face Bangladesh and Palestine in a pair of World Cup qualifiers.<\/p>\n Newcastle United might have fielded an extremely inexperienced team – the average age of their starting line-up (aside from their goalkeeper) was 19.5 – but considering Irankunda is only 18 himself, the budding star gained lots of confidence ahead of his move to Germany given how well he performed against similarly-aged players who are already in the European football system.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it\u2019d be pretty hard. I was pretty nervous before coming on but then obviously I felt more relaxed after the first two minutes and I\u2019m very confident now going over to Europe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not too excited but I\u2019m excited at the same time. It\u2019s going to be great to try something new, one of the best clubs in the world so pretty excited to go meet the new players.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not too nervous either. I don\u2019t know what it is. I can\u2019t really explain how I feel.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it\u2019s time for me to be over there then obviously I\u2019ll start feeling nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n A-League golden boot winner Adam Taggart, who himself has made the trip to Europe, most notably with English club Fulham and Scotland\u2019s Dundee United, thinks Irankunda has what it takes to become a success over there.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s obviously shown everyone why he\u2019s so exciting and he\u2019s got the whole country excited about him,\u201d Taggart said.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously one of the biggest clubs in the world has gone to sign him so he should go over there with all the confidence and enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n