There is truly something spectacular brewing with the Kuol family. Alou – the eldest – impressed in his debut A-League season in 2020-21, claiming seven goals in 30 appearances in a cameo that assisted the Central Coast Mariners finishing third and entering their first finals campaign in six seasons.
At the end of his first senior football campaign, the young striker had done enough to garner the attention of five-time Bundesliga champion, VFB Stuttgart, a noted Germany talent factory responsible for producing Mario Gomez, Timo Werner, Joshua Kimmich, Bernd Leno, Sami Khedira and Serge Gnabry to name a few.
Maybe it is not the flashiest European club to land at. Maybe it doesn’t inspire in the same way that signing for a Manchester City, Chelsea, or Paris St Germain would. But it is a smart move for the young striker. It is a move that sees the kid from Khartoum join a side that historical emphasises a multi-faceted approach to developing players.
Brother Garang, however, he is a different story. Six minutes into his senior debut against APIA Leichardt in the cup, he scored. Similarly, five minutes into his A-League debut at 17 no less, the younger Kuol came on, made a darting, defence splitting run to stab a Lewis Miller volley under the feet of an onrushing Oli Sail.
Since that time, and despite only playing 145 minutes for club, the young winger has collected four games in eight games.
Throw into this a few dazzling moments and runs, firstly in the A-League All-Star game against Barcelona, where he danced through a defence that contained Ronald Araujo, Jordi Alba, and Dani Alves and was unfortunate not to score.
Then, on international debut against New Zealand earlier in the week – becoming the youngest player to do so since Harry Kewell nearly a quarter of a century earlier – he came on, blitzed down the right-touchline in a fearless nature that has become his trademark in his infant career, sent a dangerous ball in that ultimately led to the penalty and debut goal for teammate Jason Cummings.
It is by no means a large sample size. But what it lacks in length it makes up for in brilliance, and it was enough to attract newly established financial superpower, Newcastle United, into acquiring the 18-year-old’s signature.
Speaking at his signing, Garang said:
“It’s unreal. As a young boy in Australia, the Premier League is the main thing that everyone watches but nobody actually thinks they’ll reach those heights. To be one of those people, to be in the position I am, it’s amazing.”
“Now that I’ve signed for Newcastle, I want to train hard, play hard, hopefully go to the World Cup and come back here.”
Garang Kuol. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Hopefully he does just that. Heads to Qatar, has a breakout tournament akin to Daniel Arzani’s in 2018, skips across to Tyneside, spends time on loan in Portugal – a great county to develop your game as a young talent, given its pedigree is a premier global talent factor – and has a successful career.
God knows this country needs enigmatic talent – like the Kuol brothers – to reignite the passion for the game at a domestic and international level and ratify to clubs that investing in the academy and playing the kids is worth the capital output.
But to lock in a big European move is one thing. To capitalise on it is another. Both brothers possess their own individual skillset that places them in the right position to be successful. They find themselves at clubs that do place an emphasis on production. But there is always the caveat, the caveat of a serious injury, of failing to adapt, of a million other factors that play a part in the success or failure of a career move.
Hopefully it is smooth sailing for the Kuol’s. But, not too smooth. Hurdles build character, and character is what football in this country is crying out for.
If all goes well, these two young men could be the attacking pillars that can bear the weight of Australian football and inspire other talented players to follow in their sensibly moving footsteps.
Fredy Jones
Guest
The three Kuol boys are a refugee story of of an African-Australian family whose early success in football hopefully will be repeated over and over again like many European countries. They are lucky that other role model African-Australian footballers have done well in Australia and overseas but some of the stories about these players very early in their careers can cause more harm than good. Newcastle United has bucket loads of money in their academy and are paying astonishing amounts of money for young players at the moment, not just Garang. It is important that we in Australia don't unnecessarily load up these boys with early career high expectations and let them develop at their own pace in the best way for their future in the sport. It is just wonderful that these African-Australian families, like in European countries, are making such a wonderful contribution to sport and Australian society more generally.
Simoc
Roar Rookie
The speed shown is exciting and makes all the difference at every level. Looks like the sort of player the through ball is perfect for. Speed is always hard to defend against. A way to go of course but great prospects.
Brendan
Roar Pro
With Garang’s final A-League games looming, it’s going to make the Mariner’s derby with the Jets quite exciting.
Midfielder
Roar Guru
Love to see these boys lead the Socceroo attack
Midfielder
Roar Guru
To share the third brother is in our academy
Grem
Roar Rookie
Well written - I love Australian football and hope these boys do well. They are exciting players and that is something that does attract viewers and spectators. If these boys do well they are also ambassadors for the multicultural aspect of our country and football and will be role models who attract and inspire other young African/Australian footballers. Our game has been in need of another Tim Cahill or Harry Kewell and maybe these men will be that, if so, that will be a big boost to our game. I wish them both great success and there’s a younger one for the future, too!