Although he is only 18 years old and has yet to play in a major championship or start, the Australian cool could be one of the players to watch in his first game at Qatar World Cupon Tuesday against France.
This is likely the future forward of Newcastle United he will start, but manager Graham Arnold is expected to give him minutes, especially if Australia trail.
Whether he made it to Qatar or not, Kuol already has a story to tell. Born in Egypt to a South Sudanese family that fled the war, he was accepted in Australia as a refugee.
His rise to the World Cup in Qatar was quick. Capable of playing on the wings or even in a more central position, he first rose to prominence with the Central Coast Mariners, an Australian club based in Gosford, New South Wales.
In April, when he was not yet 18, he scored in his first A-League game, the Australian championship, almost from his first ball as soon as he entered the game. A feat that inspired his club to tweet: “Remember his name!”
In fact, the ‘child prodigy’ put together great performances, scoring six goals and dishing out three assists in 13 Australian league games, always as a ‘joker’, which led the ‘Mariners’ to sign the him on his first professional contract in June , but Newcastle are already following him.
“If we’re one or two goals down, I think he’ll come in. He’s one of those atypical players. Technically, he’s not Messi, but every time he comes out he disrupts things,” explains Adam Peacock, a reporter for ‘Código’, who has covered the A-League since 2009.
Very quickly, Kuol made his debut for the starving Socceroos in September during a warm-up game against New Zealand. At 18 years and 10 days, he became the youngest Australian international since Harry Kewell in 1996 and will be the youngest Socceroo ever to play at a World Cup.
Five days later, Newcastle signed him to a contract, for an undisclosed fee, that will take him to the north of England once the World Cup is over.
Despite his lack of experience, Kuol is not daunted by the prospect of the World Cup or facing defending champions France. “The World Cup is the biggest stage, that’s where I want to prove myself. It’s good what we can do against players of this caliber,” he says.
On Saturday, in training, he was still impressed by the “intensity”: “Deadly! I have to get used to it, the boys play fast, the ball flies. We tried to copy what France would do. Good .”
Kuol took the opportunity to pay tribute to all the people who made it possible for him to be there: “My coach at the ‘Mariners’, my parents, my older brothers, those two too,” he said, showing his two Awer’s teammates. Mabil and Thomas Deng , who have a journey similar to yours.
He also sent a message of hope: “I give importance to being a role model. I want to show children, especially those in South Sudan who are all over the world: hard work can do it.”
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
