With the A-League in off-season mode for the next few months, Australian football fans are turning to their respective state’s NPL competitions for a fix.
The NPL offers a wonderful array of multicultural food at suburban grounds coupled with some very talented semi-professional players.
Kur Kur has been phenomenal in the SANPL this season with Adelaide City and is widely regarded as the best attacking player at NPL level nationally in 2022.
In the SANPL Kur is ranked first in chances created (28), first in dribbles completed (98), first in key passes (16) and first in attacking challenges won (155). He’s also second in shots on target (29), second in goals scored (11), third in pass success among wingers/strikers (494), fourth in assists (4) and fifth in tackle succession amongst wingers/strikers (33).
With those remarkable stats, Kur has made a surprise European move, signing for FK Radnički in Serbia’s SuperLiga.
It has been quite the meteoric rise for Kur, who was born in Kenya and moved to Adelaide with his family when he was just two years old.
His junior football was with Modbury Vista before he moved on to South Australia’s Skillaroos program and then signed for the Modbury Jets as a raw 16-year-old.
After a short stint with the Croydon Kings, Kur made the jump to historic powerhouse of Australian football Adelaide City in 2021, where he has been on a tear ever since,
(Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)
Given a licence to roam and entertain with his natural flair by City coach Paul Pezos, Kur has amassed a highlight reel full of spectacular goals and trickery.
He’s able to receive the ball at close quarters and dribble past players on both his left and right sides at full speed while evading challenges.
The best attacking players always tend to be able to have time compared to their opponents, and Kur has this time-stopping ability in abundance while on the ball, almost as if the rest of the match moves in slow motion.
Now that Kur has added play-making to his repertoire with the ability to thread a pass, there are two facets of his game that need attention: heading and conditioning.
At 188 centimetres and with a good vertical leap, Kur should be a target for his teammates at the end of crosses.
Conditioning-wise, though Kur is able to run out a full match, he’s had some niggling soft tissue injuries since his teens that need to be addressed.
The likelihood of wearing the green and gold of Australia is no more though, after debuting in early 2022 for South Sudan.
At 22 years of age, it is somewhat surprising Kur hasn’t played professional football in the A-League, in particular with hometown club Adelaide United. Adelaide has been an absolute hotbed for attacking players with African heritage over the past few years, but with the sheer volume of talent, some are unfortunately overlooked.
A move to Serbia might seem out of the blue, but there’s an academy, ex-players and a scout with direct links that have seen SANPL players trial and sign for clubs in the past. Vanuatu international Jared Clark notably spent time with FK Vojvodina
Kur’s new club, FK Radnički, narrowly avoided relegation in the playoffs last season after a campaign in which goals were hard to come by.
He will be the only player not from the Balkans in the side and will have to deal with the language barrier, verbal abuse and violence from the ultras as well as the shadowy politics that are part and parcel of Serbian football.
While it may not be the highest standard, the Serbian SuperLiga has proven to be a finishing school for footballers with exceptional technical ability, regularly selling players to the big four European leagues each year.
There is no question that Kur Kur has the football ability to succeed in Europe, but whether he can navigate the perils associated with Serbian football is another story.
Alexander
Guest
Serbia produces more top flight footballers per population than any other country in the world. To the so called football pundits that didn't know they play football, they were European and World youth Champions a few years ago. Talent abounds in that small country without even mentioning other sports like basketball and tennis. You do well there and you'll be seen by many scouts.
Josk
Roar Rookie
Thanks mate for that intriguing article. Would definitely be interesting to see if he’s successful.
Question
Guest
They play pro soccer in Serbia?
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
yes, the proverbial supermarket fruit and groceries list may come out. like i said, the player is aware of potentially what could happen whether he plays poorly or brilliantly - you need to be very strong mentally as a player with african heritage when playing in serbia, croatia, montenegro, bosnia, albania, bulgaria, romania, russia etc It can happen to white players as well, zlatan was on the receiving end of some brutal abuse in 2021 when milan came to belgrade
Franko
Guest
I will try and put it politely. The poor bloke won't need to go to the supermarket to buy bananas.... As I say, if he can make it there, it'll hold him in good stead.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
the talent has always been there, the never ending issue is how they get to the professional ranks its a little bit hard when you only have 12 professional teams in your national comp lol
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
i fly in direct from serbia (about the only country flying to russia currently) and am fluent in russian - never had any problems entering or being in the country in all my years of visiting it even given the current circumstances, im not too worried (unless something major happens involving the UN or US sending in ground troops - i'll be fine lol)
chris
Guest
Tiger if anything, we have seen that there is a rich pool of talent playing in the various state NPL's. The NSD can't come quick enough. These players (and clubs) need a proper pathway to the top of the pyramid.
chris
Guest
Look after yourself in Russia! I was there in 2018 and had a great time, but things have changed slightly :(
Tigertown
Guest
Great article. Always a pleasure to read. It’s pleasant to have a quality NPL success story. It gives hope to a second division.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
serbia is a risky move for any player unfamiliar with the language and even more riskier if of african heritage. african players have been on the recieving end of some brutal chants and abuse in serbia. Even though big clubs like red star have 2-3 playing for them - abuse can still happen. going to be a tough season for kur, his club has been smashed in pre season (11 goals in 3 matches) - wouldn't be surprised to see a coaching change within the first month of the season if results dont get better i'll catch up with him in october, i'll be in that part of the world for 4 weeks (including romania and russia, potentially bulgaria as well) for work + some r+r
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
in terms of the academy, that would be dragos - a group of his under 12's took part in 2 tournaments in june 2022 (the only australian representative team to take part in these tournaments that featured partizan and red star) im sure the scout you can figure out. ex players with direct links eg milan ivanovic
Franko
Guest
A move to Serbia might seem out of the blue, but there’s an academy, ex-players and a scout with direct links Can you shed any more light on this Andy? Sounds interesting.
Franko
Guest
Well I guess if he can survive in South-Eastern Serbia he can survive anywhere but wow, you have to really question how wise it is to make that move. Take the opportunities when they come yes, but surely a move to Scandanavia would have been a better fit?
Punter
Roar Rookie
Thanks TSS love these articles.
Grem
Roar Rookie
Interesting article, Andy.