Irunkunda won't escape the glare of the spotlight, despite Veart's plea
Michael Lynch: Nestory Irankunda has shown growing maturity as his move to Bayern Munich near but Australian men's football's lack of star power means it's unlikely he'll soon escape the spotlight.
The first time I saw Nestory Irunkunda play it was clear he had something, although it was not readily apparent how he might harness whatever that something was.
It was more than two years ago, at a suburban ground in Adelaide when the youngster was playing for Adelaide United's youth team in an early season match in South Australia's NPL.
The Reds team of tyros lost that game to the more seasoned Sturt Lions but Irunkunda, who buzzed with the effervescence that has become a trademark since, was the player who left an indelible impression.
Back then he had the pace and power that has become his hallmark but also the enthusiasm, the waywardness, the sheer ''heart on his sleeveness'' that has become his signature in the time since.
In two years Irunkunda has gone from teenage hopeful to probably Adelaide's most important player: given the Reds’ uncharacteristically uneven form this season it's fair to suggest that were it not for his goals and dynamism Carl Veart's team might have been out of business even earlier than now, when last Friday night's loss to Macarthur almost certainly ended their finals aspirations.
His departure from the domestic game at season's end has had more fanfare than that of any player in Australian history given that his destination is Bayern Munich, one of the world's most storied clubs.
Sure, the golden generation of the early 2000s had stellar careers but were either relative unknowns when they left their homeland or went to much smaller clubs.
Few had heard of Harry Kewell when he went to Leeds as a schoolboy, ditto Tim Cahill before he broke through at Millwall or John Aloisi when he quit Adelaide for Europe as a 15-year-old.
Mark Viduka had established himself as a scoring sensation - actually achieving a lot more in his teenage years with the Melbourne Knights than Irunkunda has with Adelaide - but he went to the relatively low-key Dinamo Zagreb (then known as Croatia Zagreb), nothing as high profile as Bayern.
Irunkunda's gifts mean he always looks dangerous when he gets the ball, accelerating past defenders or shooting powerfully (if often from quite optimistic distances).
It is that what makes him an opposition nightmare and has earned him star billing, but that explosiveness, unpredictability and the emotion with which he plays the game that has also put a target on his back.
In fact, for many observers, Irunkunda's temperament has been the big question mark given how he had a tendency to get wound up and riled by opponents and let the situation get the better of him when things are not going his way.
But there have been signs in recent months that with growing maturity that is becoming less of an issue.
The blow-ups that he was sometimes prone to have disappeared and he has proven himself capable of shouldering the burden of responsibility for his team in tight situations - notwithstanding his penalty miss in the dying minutes of the loss to Macarthur. The fact that he, one of the youngest players in the team, was prepared to take the responsibility in front of more experienced colleagues spoke a lot about not just his confidence but his desire to show leadership at a clutch moment.
He still plays with fire in his eyes and plenty of emotion: no one in the stands is ever likely to be under any illusions about how he feels at any given moment. But that is what drives him and makes him the firecracker of a player he is.
Interestingly Veart, his coach for all of his short professional life, believes that the youngster may well be better served out of the glare of the Australian media spotlight, where he has become almost the face of the domestic game, and continue his development in Germany.
The former Socceroo striker told reporters on Friday after the Macarthur defeat (where Irunkunda's sensational early strike had given the Reds the lead and hope that their unlikely finals charge would continue) that ''we just don't know how to look after young players. It's disappointing, the amount of talk about him."
Given the way the mainstream media now works, where it is interested more in celebrity, personalities and clickbait news grabs than it is in covering the domestic game or tackling the issues in depth, Veart is unlikely to get his wish.
With so few genuine stars in the men’s game, Irunkunda is likely to be as much in the media glare next season as he has been this, with his every minute logged either in the first team Bayern set up (perhaps unlikely) or wherever he goes on loan.
For the youngster himself and the national teams, it is to be hoped that he can be tempered in the forge of high-level European football and come through what will be a challenging test stronger, mentally tougher and, crucially, an even more effective player.
If he can, then he will deserve to luxuriate in the heat of any attention that comes his way.
