From boy wonder to invisible: What happened to Garang Kuol?

When Garang Kuol left Australia at the end of 2022, he was the Socceroos’ boy wonder – an audacious 18-year-old talent who almost squeezed an equaliser past the long arms of Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez in the round of 16 at the World Cup.

But when he arrived back in Melbourne this week as part of the Newcastle United squad, we were all wondering what had happened to him.

Garang Kuol is in Melbourne this week with Newcastle United.Credit: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

Where has he been? Why hasn’t he been playing regular first-team football?

These are not questions Kuol has time to properly ponder as he stands on a Yarra River footbridge in Melbourne on a brisk autumn Wednesday morning.

He is tucked in beside winger Jacob Murphy, looking almost like an afterthought, as his decorated Geordie clubmate attracts all the focus during a promotional press conference, answering questions about long-haul flights and being in Australia to play an exhibition game so close to their regular English Premier League season finish.

None of these questions are directed at the shy, and quietly spoken Kuol, who is yet to play a game in the famous black-and-white strip of England’s Magpies. And understandably so – he is a long way away from being the main event.

From the vast distance that separates Australia from England, Kuol’s meteoric career trajectory appears to have stalled, or at least sputtered to a very slow climb.

Ever since he was pulled abroad on a four-year deal by the English Premier League club at the start of 2023, Kuol, has been a player on the fringe, fighting in a pool overflowing with precocious talent from soccer-first countries for a regular spot in Newcastle’s first team.

He spent his first two seasons in Europe on loan – with Heart of Midlothian in the Scottish League and then with Dutch outfit FC Volendam, struggling for game time and scoring just two goals across 23 matches. It was a long way off what Australian soccer fans expected.

This week, Kuol finds himself back in the Newcastle fold, having travelled with the team to Australia.

Garang Kuol is denied by Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez at the World Cup.Credit: Getty

He will strip with the squad for Wednesday night’s clash with Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur at the MCG, but is more likely to be in the thick of the action against the A-League All-Stars at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.

These will be his first games for Newcastle. Kuol is understandably excited.

“Buzzing to be back, especially with the team,” Kuol says, silver crosses dangling from either ear below his short-cropped dreadlocks. “You know, two games to play, I think we are all buzzing.”

Despite his limited opportunities across the past two seasons, Kuol seems far from dispirited or disillusioned. But he is realistic about what lies ahead.

As he stands to the side after the morning’s press conference, he quietly reflects on his junior years playing soccer growing up in Shepparton, and still believes he is blazing a trail for others to follow.

“I’m playing in Europe and I think the dream for every kid is to play in Europe,” he says.

“To be an Aussie, I grew up in Australia, playing here, and I think I am always going to be a role model for the kids in Australia who want to play in Europe as well.”

Kuol exploded on the Australian soccer scene in April 2022. Born in a refugee camp in Egypt, to Sudanese parents, his family settled in Shepparton where he played representative soccer, before he made his A-League debut for the Central Coast Mariners at the age of 17, just seven months before he travelled to Qatar with the Socceroos for the World Cup.

Garang Kuol will watch his brother Alou Kuol, pictured, represent the Central Coast Mariners in Saturday’s A-League final. Credit: Getty

At 18, he then became the youngest player since Pele to feature in the knock-out phase of soccer’s biggest stage, almost scoring an unlikely goal against eventual winner Argentina after coming off the bench in the round of 16.

Life has been duller since. His time in Europe, he explains, has been a more mundane, concentrated existence.

“You sort of just work hard, sleep, repeat. That’s just how it is every day,” he says.

Kuol, now 19, says the biggest lesson he has learned since living away from Australia is that his next game, his next opportunity, will not come easily.

“Everyone on the field is trying to play ahead of you. It’s all competition wherever you are. That’s the one thing you learn,” Kuol said.

The trip back to Australia, his first time since leaving at the end of 2022, will give him a rare chance to catch up with his family, who are now based on New South Wales’ Central Coast.

“Mum and Dad are coming down. I think I’ll see them after the game,” he says.

“And then I think I will rush up to watch my brother (Alou) play on Saturday (in the A-League grand final at Gosford for the Mariners). It will be buzzing.”

Beyond this weekend, Kuol will return to England’s Tyneside city of Newcastle. What lies ahead for his career is uncertain, but come September 15, he will celebrate his 20th birthday and leave his teenage years behind.

There will be no more boy wonder, just a singular focus for Kuol.

“Just to work hard, to grow, to learn, to get myself on the field,” he said.

“I just want to play as many games as possible. That’s that’s how you learn and that’s how you develop confidence. Just continue to play games, that’s what I want to do.”

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