Nestory Irankunda is one of Australian football’s brightest talents; tipped as a future Socceroo, a face of the A-League Men, a key cog in Adelaide United’s attack, and the subject of reported interest from Bayern Munich. He is also 17 years old. In the legal sense, he is not even an adult; unable to vote, drink alcohol, or move overseas to continue to take the next step in his career until his 18th birthday next February.

Both of these things are true. And yet their simultaneous validity creates an awkward level of angst – the nuances, expectations and conventions they would generally grind against each other, if not operate in outright opposition. It’s not a particularly modern problem. Teenagers and elite sport are nothing new, but it is heightened in this modern digital age.

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The juxtaposition arrived at something of a nexus at the weekend, following Irankunda’s dismissal in the dying stages of the latest, spiteful match against Melbourne Victory. With just seconds remaining, he reacted angrily towards referee Alex King after Chris Ikonomidis appeared to foul him multiple times, and avoid any kind of sanction. It earned Irankunda a yellow card, his second, for dissent. Furious frustration bubbled over as he was escorted off by teammates and coaches. Things were perhaps not helped by Connor Chapman’s advice on where the tunnel was.

Regardless of whether Ikonomidis had grabbed enough material to suggest he was taking the ‘can I have your shirt’ trend to an extreme conclusion, Irankunda should not have reacted in a manner that drew a card. This probably won’t be the first or the last time he comes in for extra attention and, importantly, players were informed before the season started that a crackdown on intimidating behaviour towards referees was coming. Both Irankunda and Adelaide coach Carl Veart admitted that the player needs to keep his cool, and labelled it a learning experience in a young career.