Adelaide United forward, Nestory Irankunda, admitted he was left disappointed with his personal performance in Saturday night’s 2-1 win over Brisbane Roar at Coopers Stadium.
Irankunda’s 20-minute cameo was enough for the 16-year-old to score United’s winner and seal a valuable three points for his team, which thrust the Reds into third on the Isuzu UTE A-League ladder.
However, with adrenaline still clearly coursing through his veins at full-time, the fan-favourite, speaking to Paramount+’s Max Burford, thrust his own effort and work rate into the spotlight as a key area for him to improve upon.
Irankunda said:
“I’m happy to get the goal and to help the team out, but performance-wise, I wasn’t very good and should have done my job properly.
“It’s great to be out here at Hindmarsh and score a goal on one of the big stages it feels great.
“I know I can score goals and sprint, but it’s my work rate.
“It’s something I have to work on and it’s the reason I haven’t been playing many games (recently).
“I have to improve on it if I want to become the top player that I want to be.
“Performance-wise, it wasn’t the best, I could have done better, and work rate just needs to be worked on.
“The goal was for Juande, to be honest.
“Juande is one of my great teammates and him and Javi (López), the Spanish boys are always there and always by my side, so I’m happy to get the goal for (Juande).”
