{"id":246690,"date":"2026-06-04T06:54:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T06:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/no-one-agreed-with-coachs-claim-on-this-aussie-teen-20-months-on-world-cup-can-prove-him-right\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T06:54:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T06:54:00","slug":"no-one-agreed-with-coachs-claim-on-this-aussie-teen-20-months-on-world-cup-can-prove-him-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/no-one-agreed-with-coachs-claim-on-this-aussie-teen-20-months-on-world-cup-can-prove-him-right\/","title":{"rendered":"No-one agreed with coach\u2019s claim on this Aussie teen. 20 months on, World Cup can prove him right"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Teenage sensation Lucas Herrington will play without fear at the FIFA World Cup thanks largely to some sage advice from his fellow Socceroos defender Alessandro Circati.<\/p>\n

Herrington\u2019s meteoric rise has him on the cusp of becoming the youngest Australian player to ever start in a World Cup match.<\/p>\n

Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

The 18-year-old former Brisbane centre-back forced his way into Socceroos coach Tony Popovic\u2019s World Cup plans on the back of his outstanding form for American Major League Soccer club Colorado, which he joined in January from the Roar.<\/p>\n

Herrington debuted for Australia in March\u2019s FIFA Series and has started in all three of his Socceroos appearances.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been a lot, but it\u2019s a dream come true to make the final squad and hopefully I can get some minutes,\u201d the Queenslander said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve worked my whole life for an opportunity like this. It came sooner than I thought, but I\u2019ll just try to take it with both hands, just enjoy it and really make the country proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Lucas Herrington controls the ball during the Socceroos\u2019 1-0 loss to Mexico last Sunday. Picture: Luiza Moraes \/ Getty Images North America \/ Getty Images via AFP<\/span>Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Herrington paid tribute to his teammates, including Italy-based star Circati, who at just 22 has established himself as one of the first names on the Socceroos\u2019 teamsheet.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was tops in bringing me in and just giving me little tips just to plan my game, like don\u2019t worry about mistakes,\u201d Herrington said of Circati. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s another young defender, so it\u2019s great for me to see that example of him playing in a top league around the world. He\u2019s one for me to look up to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herrington\u2019s belief has grown from the \u201ctrust\u201d that Popovic has in him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just gives you confidence to go do your thing, I\u2019ve loved the opportunity that the gaffer (Popovic) has given me here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Socceroos great Mark Schwarzer has similar belief in the young gun.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been really impressed by Lucas Herrington from what I\u2019ve seen so far,\u201d said the man with more Socceroos appearances than any other player.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor such a young guy, he seems so relaxed and so much like he\u2019s been there for a long-time. That\u2019s impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/amp-img>
Lucas Herrington (right), pictured with veteran Mathew Leckie, is ready for his first FIFA World Cup. Picture: Luiza Moraes\/Getty Images<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Herrington\u2019s talent was identified early by his former Roar coach Ruben Zadkovich, who in October 2024 labelled him the \u201cbest defender in Australian football\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cRuben was my first professional coach. He gave me my debut for the Roar, so I\u2019ll forever be grateful to him for that opportunity. Without that, I probably wouldn\u2019t be here today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRuben was tops and really instrumental in getting me here, so I\u2019ll always be grateful to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Socceroos meet Switzerland in San Diego on Sunday (AEST) in their final warm-up match before their opening Group D World Cup clash against Turkiye in Vancouver on June 14 (AEST).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Teenage sensation Lucas Herrington will play without fear at the FIFA World Cup thanks largely to some sage advice from his fellow Socceroos defender Alessandro Circati. Herrington\u2019s meteoric rise has him on the cusp of becoming the youngest Australian player to ever start in a World Cup match. Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":246691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[1800,37519,1808,2064,73623,73622,68860,17174,1425,70342,11442,15974,2895,1533,1809,73624,23761,53022,3142,3497,16930,12783,1792,37514,13587,2256,33686,73620,73621],"class_list":{"0":"post-246690","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-british-columbia","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-country-proud","13":"tag-fearless-teen-ready","14":"tag-fifa-series","15":"tag-final-squad","16":"tag-getty-images-inc","17":"tag-lucas-herrington","18":"tag-major-league-soccer","19":"tag-mark-schwarzer","20":"tag-newswire-sport","21":"tag-north-america","22":"tag-northern-america","23":"tag-professional-coach","24":"tag-ruben-zadkovich","25":"tag-sage-advice","26":"tag-san-diego","27":"tag-teenage-sensation","28":"tag-tim-cahill","29":"tag-tony-popovic","30":"tag-united-states-of-america","31":"tag-vancouver","32":"tag-young-defender","33":"tag-young-gun","34":"tag-young-guy","35":"tag-youngest-australian","36":"tag-youngest-australian-player"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}