{"id":46165,"date":"2026-06-26T02:57:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T02:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/46165\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T02:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T02:57:12","slug":"lucas-herrington-who-is-socceroos-defender-playing-paraguay-at-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/46165\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucas Herrington, who is Socceroos defender playing Paraguay at World Cup?"},"content":{"rendered":"

OAKLAND, CA \u2014 Lucas Herrington is seemingly unflappable.<\/p>\n

An A-League debut as a teen, being heralded by your coach at Brisbane Roar as the best defender in Australian football before he\u2019d kicked a ball.<\/a> A move to the MLS, marking Lionel Messi, playing alongside a former Premier League defender (Arsenal\u2019s Rob Holding) and playing in front of the club\u2019s record breaking crowd. A Socceroos debut. A World Cup call-up.<\/p>\n

Well, maybe we found one thing. Almost.<\/p>\n

As we chatted to the baby faced defender at the Socceroos\u2019 team hotel, Nestory Irankunda did the best to try and railroad the interview. The 20-year-old just stood, casually, arms folded, nodding along, chuckling, as Herrington and I tried to chat. This grizzled veteran was probably less composed than the defender. And following his lead, we played on.<\/p>\n

Nothing fazes Lucas Herrington. And if he is thrust onto the World Cup stage at 18 years of age, he will need all of those qualities. The stakes aren\u2019t just massive for this tournament; a commanding display will only accelerate the seriousness of conversations reportedly being flirted around with Barcelona.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a lot, but I\u2019ve got a great support network around me, just telling me to stay humble, keep my feet on the ground and just enjoy every moment really,\u201d he explained to us.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not every day that this opportunity comes, so I just can\u2019t wait for it all to start and I can\u2019t wait for the World Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

For a player so young, he has the most eye catching composure on the ball. Where did that come from?<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always big, so I was always chucked back there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ve always loved playing with the ball. I\u2019ve always had a ball at my feet so I think it has just come naturally. I just love playing with it. I\u2019d rather play with it than not have it. So I just try be calm on the ball, just find the right passes and play my game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things have really kicked off since his move to Colorado Rapids, where is regularly in teams of the week, and has dazzled with his composure and passing accuracy out of defence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m loving it. I\u2019ve only been there six months now, but it\u2019s been great. I love my football..<\/p>\n

\"\"Lucas Herrington warms up ahead of his Socceroos debut. Photo: Ann Odong<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got some top players next to me, Rob Holding\u2019s played at the top level, Zack Steffen behind me as well helps a lot, but, also the coaching staff; my coach Matt Wells has given me the opportunity to play, which I\u2019ve been grateful for and I\u2019ve just loved every minute over there really.\u201d<\/p>\n

If there were doubts over Herrington\u2019s ability to cope with the furnace that will be the World Cup, one need just look at the experiences he already has.<\/p>\n

Just prior to playing in front of 78,000 at the Rose Bowl against Mexico, he faced Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in front of a similar attendance, the biggest in the club\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\"\"Lionel Messi v Lucas Herrington. Photo: Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cUnreal,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a massive game. Unfortunate result, but, I think we played a great game and it was just obviously Messi doing Messi stuff, which was tough to swallow.\u201d<\/p>\n

More lessons there, too, in the fine margins at play when you\u2019re playing against the best.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe little things,\u201d he explained. \u201cHim on the ball, he\u2019s just so tidy, you can\u2019t give him space, so you can\u2019t respect him too much, and just closing down on his left foot as much possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trajectory has been meteoric but doing it at Colorado was not by accident.<\/p>\n

\"\"Lucas Herrington in action on debut against Cameroon. Photo: Ann Odong<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a club that also promotes their young players,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a really young squad that\u2019s really hardworking, we work for each other, we want to win, we want to improve. So to be a part of that environment is great.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is bewildering to think that his last A-League game was only on January 3rd. Now, with the biggest stage looming, he\u2019ll have his family in the stands ready to soak in the rise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve done everything for me, and I wouldn\u2019t be able to get around to training until I got my license, they had to drive me early mornings, late nights, when they were tired, when they didn\u2019t necessarily want to do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were always there for me, always supporting. My brother\u2019s been massive as well, obviously he plays as well, so we can relate a lot to each other. He gives me great advice, always there for each other. They\u2019ve all been great and helped me get to this journey and without them I definitely wouldn\u2019t be here. So I\u2019m always so grateful for them just for the support and love they give me and I can\u2019t wait to share the moment with them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OAKLAND, CA \u2014 Lucas Herrington is seemingly unflappable. An A-League debut as a teen, being heralded by your…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46166,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[92,15049],"class_list":["post-46165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-barcelona","tag-lucas-herrington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}