FIFA World Cup 2022: Harry Souttar sledged by Martin Boyle for revealing bold Subway choice

Harry Souttar copped a brutal jibe from injured teammate Martin Boyle while describing the “perfect sandwich” with the Socceroo star forced to defend his ‘big build’.

Australia's goalkeeper Mathew Ryan (L) speaks with Australia's coach Graham Arnold.

It’s the sort of order that would send a shiver down the spine of Socceroos team chef Vinny Capovilla – but after his efforts at the World Cup, don’t be surprised to see ‘The Harry’ popping up in the Subway menu in the near future.

In a video released by the Socceroos this week, Harry Souttar is asked by teammate Martin Boyle about his go-to order at Subway.

Souttar’s answer leaves Boyle with a stunned – even disgusted – look on his face.

“Chicken breast, ham, a bit of onion…” Souttar starts off, describing a fairly normal sandwich before going off the rails.

“Cheese and onion crisps sprinkled over the top, ketchup…”

Striker Jason Cummings momentarily interjects with a “what??” before Souttar can finish his dream combo with three cookies and a Pepsi Max.

“That’s why you’re 120kg, mate,” jokes Boyle.

And while Souttar admits it’s not the ‘healthiest’ option at the fast-food chain, it does the job for him and at two metres tall he argues he’s got a big frame to fill out.

“It’d be nice, wouldn’t it?” Souttar said of the possibility of having his personal Subway concoction joining the menu.

“Look at the size of me, I need it! The stick I’ve gotten from that has been pretty over the top to be honest, but it’s my choice.”

It’s unclear whether much of that ‘stick’ has come from the team’s chef, Capovilla, or members of their sports science team, led by Andrew Clark.

“(Capovilla is) probably not happy – (but) I’ve not had a conversation with him yet.

“I don’t think Clarky or any of the sports science team would be pleased with the three cookies, either.”

‘I WANT MY LIFE BACK’: BRUTAL REALITY OF SOCCEROOS JOB

By Dean Ritchie

The wife of Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has revealed she protects her husband from “nasty and awful” social media criticism before cheekily giving online trolls the middle finger emoji.

Sarah Arnold also spoke with pride and love about the coaching heroics of her husband, whose Socceroos play Denmark on Thursday morning in hope of famously progressing to the World Cup round of 16.

“I’m just so proud and happy to see him get this far because he does so much for everyone and everything within football. It’s just wonderful,” she said.

Graham Arnold and his wife Sarah.

Arnold created history by guiding his Australian side – often written off and dismissed – to a historic win over Tunisia on Saturday night.

Even after the victory, Sarah encountered cyber animosity towards Arnold before firing back at the critics with the one finger salute emoji.

Despite a desire to let the criticism slide, a passionate Sarah admits to becoming “cranky and upset” at social media bullies and “certain people on air.”

“The haters, the people that write and say things, that’s water off a duck’s back to Graham but I find it difficult. It gets to me and I get all emotional and upset,” Sarah said.

“I get really cranky. Everyone says: ‘Don’t write anything back, don’t respond, don’t do it, you’ll get nowhere with them’ but sometimes I can’t help it.

“The only thing I do now is the emoji with the finger. I don’t say anything, just give them the finger.

Graham Arnold barks instructions during Australia’s win over Tunisia.

“People can get so nasty and awful. They say terrible things but they just don’t know what Graham does and the effort he puts in. They don’t understand the emotion and how hard it is.

“This morning, someone put up a post asking where all the haters were now (after the win over Tunisia) and then someone else said they wouldn’t back down and Arnie was this and Arnie was that.

“I thought: ‘Right!’. I started to write some things and thought: ‘Sarah, stop, so I did the finger … three times.’ That’s the truth. I shouldn’t even go on there and read it.

“These people haven’t been through it. But we’re getting through this and, hey, he is doing so well. The boys love him – they are doing it for him and for their country, of course.”

Rather than inform Arnold, Sarah tries to keep the criticism hidden from her husband.

“I don’t tell him anything. It’s not worth it because he then asks: ‘What do you mean, what have they been saying?’ I say: ‘No, no, it’s fine, don’t worry about it, it’s nothing’,” she said. “I try to play it down because he tries not to read it.

“Some people send him stuff about what has been said and the things that have been written. I don’t know why they do that because it just makes you feel bad inside. You’re a human being and you can’t help it when people criticise you and say things. It hurts.”

Graham Arnold is on the cusp of leading Australia past the group stages for just the second time in history at a World Cup. Photo: Getty Images.

After a tough year with Arnold regularly absent through overseas qualification matches, Sarah has travelled to Qatar to share her husband’s success.

“It’s been an emotional journey, crikey, up and down daily,” she said. “But, here we go, can you believe it if we can get through to the next round? He deserves this, and more. This last four years has been a hard journey; with the pandemic as well.

“He went away for four, five, six months. He couldn’t get back in because of Covid. I didn’t see him for over four months. He had to stay away. That’s why I ended up buying another bulldog.

“Graham said to me yesterday: ‘I just want to get my life back and my wife back’. I thought that was so true. We have been riding this journey and it’s been hard. But, hey, there has been a lot of good too, it hasn’t all been bad.”

DOUBTERS WILL PUSH SOCCEROOS INTO ‘RARE STRATOSPHERE’

Joe Barton in Qatar

Australia will carry a major chip on their shoulder into their do-or-die clash with Denmark, where victory would raise them into a rare stratosphere of Socceroos success – and give them the respect they demand.

While Australia could yet advance to the Round of 16 with a draw, and a France win against Tunisia, Graham Arnold’s men have adopted a ‘win-or-go-home’ mentality against the World No. 10 Danes as they look to win over a fickle public and doubting rivals.

In the build-up to Australia’s opening game, French players were grilled daily about what they knew of the Socceroos – and either admitted they couldn’t name a single player or skirted around the topic.

WHAT RESULTS DO AUSTRALIA NEED TO PROGRESS?

It’s a common theme, but feeds into Australia’s underdog mentality – which they’ll again be able to harness on Wednesday, where the Socceroos are 6-1 outsiders.

“Every Australian team in history has been underestimated,” said winger Craig Goodwin, who has starred across Australia’s opening two games with a goal and an assist.

“That will always be the case. For where we are that will always be the case I think in the future.

“And I think it’s something that I think helps us and something that we will relish, being the underdog.

“Every Australian sporting team relishes that and we’re no different.

“We believe in ourselves and what we’re doing and we will fight to the very end to get the result against Denmark and try and put our names up in lights and do the nation proud.”

Striker Mitchell Duke is one of the more maligned players in Australia’s starting XI, and while he doesn’t cop the same level of criticism as Arnold after a loss, he is aware of the social media backlash.

It’s what made his breakthrough goal against Tunisia – becoming the eighth to join an elite group of Socceroos to score a World Cup goal – extra special.

“Trying to encapsulate everything I’ve been through, the struggles, the sacrifices and things like that … I feel like so many people writing me off, maybe questioning (whether) I should be in the starting XI,” Duke said on Sunday.

Issam Jebali of Tunisia jumps for a header.

“We’ve got a great, prolific scorer in (Jamie) Maclaren sitting on the bench, I’m sure he’s raring to have a chance as well. But that’s that competitive nature.

“We’re mates but we also want to both play and that helps push the quality in competitiveness.

“It was a special moment but I’m trying to not get too caught up in the emotion because now I want to feed off that energy and take that into the Denmark game and get another goal.”

Duke backed the team’s ruthless mentality to ensure there would be zero complacency heading into the Denmark fixture, regardless of whether a draw would be enough to secure safe passage to the knockout games.

“I want to win every game that I play, with that ruthless mentality and give the opposition nothing and not have that chance of vulnerability with relaxing regardless of the result.,” Duke added.

“You want to be a winner, regardless of other countries’ results. It doesn’t matter.

“I hope everyone has that mentality, especially within our group. That’s the way we need to approach every game we come up against.”