Adelaide United brothers Al Hassan and Mohamed Toure’s rise to soccer stardom began with a trip to Africa four years ago
Amara Toure says a return trip to Africa in 2016 was the catalyst for putting his sons – Adelaide United prodigies Al Hassan and Mohamed – on the path to soccer stardom.
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Amara Toure’s escape from war torn Liberia in 1990 as a 14-year-old has laid down the foundation for one of the most amazing chapters in Australian soccer history 30 years later.
Amara, 44, is the father of two teenage boys who have inspired a young generation of displaced Africans and an adoring Australian public that cannot get enough of Adelaide United’s Toure boys.
Al Hassan, 19, was first on the scene to create a frenzy.
He scored on his 2019 FFA Cup debut, was man-of-the-match in the final and scored a goal similar to Socceroos Ned Zelic’s 1992 wonder strike against the Netherlands.
Al Hassan’s form started a tug of war between the Liberian and Australia football federations.
Socceroos/Olyroos boss Graham Arnold won Al Hassan over, took him to the Olympic qualifiers and now the Croydon Kings junior should be on his way to the Tokyo Games if he can overcome a foot injury by July.
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Another Kings junior, Al Hassan’s younger brother Mohamed, 15, last Friday grabbed sensational headlines but Amara missed it, as he was working overtime in his second job.
Mohamed became the youngest-ever player to score an A-League goal, six days after he was the third youngest to debut in the competition.
“I was happy in the first instance that he can do that; for a person that wasn’t known in the last two months prior to that, there was nothing about Mohamed,’’ Amara said.
“Three weeks ago when Al Hassan was on TV they showed him in the stands for the game against Melbourne City, Mohamed was sitting next to him and no-one knew him.
“I was happy with his goal but not surprised because when I saw his face on the replay, if he’s in trouble I know, I knew he was confident and I knew he would do something.”
Toure bros ðŸ‘ðŸ‘ðŸ‘#ALeague
— FOX Sports Football (@FOXFOOTBALL) February 14, 2020
ðŸ“: https://t.co/lSuagEg3Xn pic.twitter.com/fXXZb4JKzJ
Amara believes his upbringing had made his boys resilient.
The father of six children was forced to flee his Liberian homeland during the height of the war.
He said he had walked for 18 days to a Guinean refugee camp where later playing professional football became a way of evading extreme poverty, and it put food on the table.
The game also helped him earn privileges for his two boys who were born in Guinea – Al Hassan and Mohamed.
“I played at the second division level for Manee in Guinea and that really helped the family to raise some money, to be able to look after ourselves,’’ Amara said.
“Supplies from the United Nations for the refugee camp wasn’t coming regularly, my brother Ali Toure who lives here, he played first division level in Guinea and he played for many clubs in South Australia like Port Pirates, Campbelltown City.
“But playing soccer in Guinea helped me with recognition and people started to know me and I would be able to take my kids for medical services as easy as possible.”
And Amara said Al Hassan being rejected by Football SA’s national training centre team after a trial would reshape their football lives.
“At first I was interested in skills and their level and getting them used to the game and to love the game,’’ Amara said.
“All of that changed when Al Hassan went for a trial with the NTC and he wasn’t selected.
“What I saw was, I saw all of his games, he was very good but he didn’t have the personality.
“When you’re standing in the tunnel there’s more than 20,000 people who want to see you, it’s not just your skills, it’s your personality – how do you cope with stress?
“I knew he wasn’t selected because I didn’t teach him how to cope with stress.
“So that changed everything for me and I started working on their personalities, so they can be themselves every time.
“After he failed he focused on Croydon and we went back to Africa in 2016.
“I knew that if they didn’t go back to my country to see how the other boys are doing there, they wouldn’t appreciate what they have.
“So, I took all of my kids there and showed them where I used to go to school and the pitches we used to play on and things like that.
“When he came back I realised they grew up as people and as football players.
“Most of the time the coaches talked to them here about what they shouldn’t do.
“But I changed the whole thing and I always tell them what to do because when that ball is coming in very fast you need to know what you should do.
“They have to realise when they’re in a better position with the ball, it’s their time now.”
Amara, his wife Mawa, Al Hassan and Mohamed all landed in Australia as refugees in 2004.
After renting a home in the northern suburbs, Amara said they had decided to move within walking distance to Polonia Reserve, the former home of the Kings, before the State Government’s South Road upgrade forced them to move again recently.
Mohamed grew up with the Kings and idolised Al Hassan.
The 15-year-old played underage, A, B and C grade junior premier and state league matches and five games for NTC last year.
Another brother Musa, 13, grew up at the Kings and is also now with NTC.
“It wasn’t easy for Mohamed or Musa and what Al Hassan provided was guidance for all of them so they didn’t have to think too much about it,’’ Amara said.
“Al Hassan really has been a real influence on all of them.
“Soccer is very expensive and I have to work overtime to make sure they follow their dreams.
“When I played football my father didn’t want me to play; that really put me off and I don’t want to treat them like that.”