Rangers star in line for major tournament with Scotland – but his brother played in World Cup for a different country
JOHN SOUTTAR is ready to play at a major tournament just like his brother – but for a different country.
The 27-year-old defender will be hoping to go to this summer’s European Championship with Scotland.
Souttar’s brother, Harry, 25, played at the 2022 World Cup for Australia, where he faced Lionel Messi.
They join families such as the Boatengs, the Pogbas and the Xhakas in having brothers playing international football for different countries.
The most famous example of brothers playing for different countries is probably Kevin-Prince Boateng (Ghana) and Jerome Boateng (Germany) when they faced each other at the 2010 World Cup.
The elder Souttar’s career has been heavily disrupted by serious injuries and he has been restricted to just seven caps as a result.
But after his first season at Rangers was written off by fitness issues, the former Dundee United and Hearts centre-back has become a first choice under Philippe Clement since the turn of the year.
Former Hearts assistant Lee McCulloch coached Souttar for two years at Tynecastle between 2020 and 2022.
The 45-year-old feels the right-sided defender is now ready to push Watford’s Ryan Porteous for a starting berth at the Euros.
McCulloch said: “John Souttar, without a shadow of a doubt, is back to a level where he’s good enough to start for Scotland.
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“I think John has kicked on since he got into the Rangers team. Any time he gets an injury it knocks him back, but if John gets a run of games, which he showed with Hearts and he’s now showing with Rangers, he’s a big-game player.
“He’s got confidence in his ability and he’s a humble, hard-working guy. He’s one of the best defenders in the league with the ball at his feet and he can also defend the box.
“I thought he was arguably the best player on the pitch in the home game against Benfica last week.
“When you see the level he’s at now, you just wonder where he’d be if he hadn’t had all those injuries.”