Doha: As Pele was hospitalised on the other side of the planet, Socceroos sensation Garang Kuol became the youngest player since the Brazilian great to feature in the World Cup’s knockout stage – and, very nearly, the youngest to score since him in 1958.
One day soon, he tipped, Australia will be able to boast about having a national team of that sort of calibre.
It’s been an eye-opening experience for Kuol, the 18-year-old who has taken the Australian game by storm this year and will officially join English Premier League side Newcastle United next month. Still yet to start a senior league match, he was the bolter in Graham Arnold’s Socceroos squad and, for many, was the attacking weapon the coach would look to first if he needed a spark off the bench.
In the end, Australia only needed to chase a game twice, and Kuol was used on both occasions – in their first-up defeat to France, where he rubbed shoulders with Kylian Mbappe, and in their round of 16 defeat to Argentina, where he shared the same pitch as Lionel Messi and came agonisingly close to scoring the equaliser at the death.
Sent into battle in the 72nd minute, Kuol had only five touches but – just as Central Coast Mariners fans have grown accustomed to – he very nearly had the decisive one, turning and shooting deep in injury time with a shot that forced a terrific save from Emi Martinez.
Garang Kuol is denied an equaliser by Argentina keeper Emi Martinez.Credit:Getty
“It was pretty close. It was a pretty tough one to not go in, and a good save,” he said.
“I didn’t really see much of [it] … I was turning around and just tried to shoot but on the replay, I could see the keeper rushed out. I think it’s just a learning curve.
“I was telling myself that I’d come on and score a goal, and Arnie was telling me to come on and do the same thing. We both have the same expectations. When I wasn’t able to score I was very disappointed but you sort of move on.”
Kuol has never seemed overawed during his short career, and despite rubbing shoulders with Mbappe and Messi on the sport’s biggest stage, which he described as a “dream” and “unreal”, he still seems unbothered.
His main takeaway from his World Cup experience? That Australians drastically overplay the gap between themselves and the top nations, and underplay their own abilities.
Argentinian relief after Kuol’s attempt was saved.Credit:AP
“People think that [players] in Europe, they can fly or something. But we’re all humans, we’re all on two feet,” he said.
“I think the sport in Australia keeps growing, and it keeps producing better and better players as time goes by. In the future, you’ll see a team that’s at the same level as Argentina and Brazil.”
Kuol will now return home to play his final few matches for the Mariners before the transfer window opens and his shift to Newcastle United can be registered. He is expected to be loaned out, although gave no hint that his next destination had been settled before a Socceroos staffer shut down the line of questioning.
“Not too sure yet. But it’s exciting,” he said.
Teammate Mathew Leckie said Kuol had an exciting career ahead of him, so long as his head remains firmly screwed onto his shoulders – which, despite all the hype, it still seems to be.
“He’s getting a lot of attention, and it’s the way he deals with it,” Leckie said.
“He needs to stay humble, work hard, head down. Have the expectation but exceed that expectation with the right mentality. From what I’ve seen in camp he’s a very quiet, humble boy, and got a bright future if he does the right things.
“He creates special moments in games and can create something from nothing. He’s in a great position, moving over to Europe now. It’s all in front of him.”
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