Postecoglou’s pep talk for Socceroos whiz-kid Kuol

A quick rev-up and a warm embrace from Ange Postecoglou have steeled teenage Socceroos sensation Garang Kuol’s already strong determination to overcome his first career speed bump in Scotland.

Kuol was barely known within the Australian game at the start of last year but ended it in the global spotlight as the youngest player since Pele to feature in the knockout stage of a World Cup. If it weren’t for the outstretched armpit of Emiliano Martinez, the former Central Coast Mariners star would have scored a goal against Argentina to almost certainly take their round of 16 clash into extra time.

Ange Postecoglou gave Garang Kuol some words of encouragement when Celtic faced Hearts earlier this month.Credit: Getty

Kuol also had a Premier League contract with Newcastle United waiting for him on the other side, earned entirely off the back of his work as an A-League bench weapon - but the 18-year-old’s meteoric rise has seemingly flatlined during his loan at Scottish Premiership side Heart of Midlothian, where he has played since his tenure with the Mariners finished in January.

Yet to score in 190 minutes across seven games for Hearts, and with only one start to his name, things have not come as easily for Kuol as they did back home, and Graham Arnold has said his call-up for Australia’s ‘Welcome Home’ friendly series against Ecuador - which begins on Friday night at CommBank Stadium - was partly designed to improve Kuol’s outlook after a “negative experience” in Edinburgh, where he is struggling to adjust to the physical nature of the Scottish league and already has fans on his back.

Postecoglou has tried to do his bit, too, softening the blow of Celtic’s 3-1 win over Hearts earlier this month by cradling Kuol’s head and passing on a few words of encouragement when they crossed paths after the match - an earnest exchange between an icon of the Aussie game and one of its most exciting young talents, who fully appreciated it.

“It was very brief,” Kuol told the Herald and The Age.

Garang Kuol has found the going tough in the Scottish Premiership.Credit: Getty

“He just said, ‘I hope you’re settling in well, and keep working hard. I’m happy to see you’re working hard, and hopefully, you can keep doing well.’ It’s good for him to show that he cares about other Aussie players in the league, and that he’s there for them. It was a very good moment.”

Postecoglou did the same thing with Cameron Devlin, another member of the four-strong Aussie contingent at Hearts, telling him there was “another level” in him waiting to be unlocked, and seems to be genuinely invested in helping along the record number of Australian players who are signed to Scottish clubs - or doing so as much as he can, at least, as a rival coach.

Kuol is aware there are plenty of doubters ready to write him off as a player due to his stumbles at Hearts, including back home - but he’s also aware he is a long way from the finished product and is putting his focus where it needs to be to realise his magnificent potential.

There have been critics, too, of Newcastle’s choice of Scotland as a loan destination for him, but those close to Kuol say it was always intended to be a soft landing spot for his first experience in European football, due to the cultural similarities with Australia and familiar faces in the Hearts squad, and only the start of an 18-month plan to prepare him for the top level.

Garang Kuol looks back on his World Cup experience, and his brush with Lionel Messi, with a sense of disbelief.Credit: Getty

He is tracking his nutrition, working through an individual strength and conditioning plan to build out his wiry frame and improve his explosiveness, endurance and intensity, and refining his touch with a top one-on-one technical coach.

“Everyone you [play against] is here to fight. There’s big boys everywhere,” Kuol said.

“But I feel like game by game, I keep adapting to the level of physicality. It’s definitely getting better, my physicality. I’m tracking my food, my weight every day ... I’m just trying to stay focused on doing all that stuff, because it does make the difference.

“It’s been good to get that experience in. Training with the top players every day, with men - I think that’s the key to developing.

“The most important thing is what happens in training, and what happens when I get my opportunity on the pitch. That’s where all my attention’s going. I’m just trying to get as much minutes as possible, and that’s up to me, and what I do. Hopefully, I can get some stats up on the board.”

Kuol is looking forward to coming home and playing in front of Socceroos fans, which is something he’s yet to do since making his debut last September in a friendly in New Zealand, as well as reuniting with Australia’s World Cup squad, who had to immediately fly back to their clubs when they were knocked out of the tournament by Argentina, the eventual champions.

“I’ve sort of moved on from it, but when I look at photos and stuff from the World Cup, it’s like a mad memory - like something I can’t believe I was a part of,” he said.

“Now I’m just focusing on the next journey. It’ll be good to see the boys again and obviously to play in front of our fans - I’m hoping we can get the win for them because during the World Cup, their support was amazing, and it drove us, so I think they deserve that.”

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