Awer Mabil
Awer Mabil’s roller-coaster life warrants a place in the silver screen. Mabil’s parents were lucky to escape the civil war in the Central African country of South Sudan in the 1990s. Mabil was born in September 1995 at a crowded refugee camp in Kakuma, Northwestern Kenya. Kakuma is the Swahili word for “nowhere”.
Operated by the United Nations and with around 180,000 refugees, mostly from South Sudan and Somalia, Kakuma was the second largest refugee camp in Kenya. There, Mabil often joined thousands of children for play after their only meal for the day. Football was their favorite – or only – pastime. They played barefoot with a rolled-up sock or scrunched-up plastic bags as the ball.
Football has taken Mabil, 27, on a long journey. Now, the talented winger is in Qatar – all ready to represent his (adopted) country, Australia, in the World Cup.
Mabil had a hand (or foot to be precise) in the Socceroos’ qualification for the mega tournament. He slotted in a penalty in a shootout win over Peru helping his team reach Qatar 2022.
“I knew I was going to score,” an ecstatic Mabil said afterwards. “It was the only way to say thank you to Australia on behalf of my family.”
Mabil spent ten years in the refugee camp. With the help of an uncle, Mabil’s family reached Australia in 2006 and he made his A-League debut for Adelaide United at the age of 17. Having played in the Australian league, Mabil moved to Danish Super League team FC Midtjylland in July 2015. After exposure in Denmark and Portugal, Mabil vastly developed his play. In 2018 he was called to the Australian side but he missed the opportunity to play when his 19-year-old sister Bor was killed in a car accident in Adelaide.
After seven years in the Danish league, in May this year he signed a contract with Spanish La Liga club Cadiz.
“For Australia to take us in and resettle us, it gave me and my siblings and my whole family a chance at life,” Mabil once told a reporter.
To make a difference in the lives of refugees Mabil co-founded the Barefoot to Boots charity alongside his brother Bul.
In 2018 when Mabil was making his Socceroos debut there was another player making his debut – Thomas Deng.
The duo became the first two South Sudanese Australians to represent the senior men’s national team. Deng’s family too escaped to Kenya and he grew up in Nairobi. In Adelaide, Mabil and Deng met for the first time, went to school together and even played for the same junior club.
Deng later joined Melbourne Victory. The defender too has made it to Qatar 2022. So has the exciting young talent of Garang Kuol. The 18-year-old forward was born in Khartoum, South Sudan’s capital. He is due to join English Premier League side New Castle United in January 2023. Mabil and Deng have taken the young prodigy under their wings.
“There are so many people who have had the same dream as us but haven’t got the opportunity. It’s amazing to see how far you’ve come, the things that you and your family have been through, to finally reach the thing you’ve been aspiring to do,” Deng said recently.
“It shows a lot of resilience and determination. And it shows that Australia’s changing slowly, as well: they’re starting to accept people from different backgrounds.
“It’s not about the colour of your skin anymore; it’s about who you are, what you represent, and how hard you work for your dream.”
Awer Mabil and his colleagues are inspiring many on and off the soccer field.
