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From: Eri-International Sports Comments (michael.seium@gmail.com)
Date: Fri Sep 10 2010 - 18:12:44 EDT
Golgol Mebrhatu is an Eritrean-Australian soccer player. He was born
in Eritrea in 1990 and his family migrated to Sudan and then to
Australia. An awesome soccer player who was discovered by Head Coach
Miron Bleiberg of the Australian version of the premier league known as
the A-League eventually led to a National Youth League contract with
Gold Coast United in 2009. Golgol was born in Eritrea but moved to
Australia when he was five-years-old and now harbours ambitions to turn
out for the Socceroos the nick name used by the Australian National
team. He made his Hyundai A-League debut in round 6 of the 2009/10
season in the 2-2 draw with Perth Glory. Golgol was marred by a serious
hamstring injury last year. However, he was selected to make the team
based on his hard work and ability and signed to a contract for the
Gold Coast United team.
Eri-International sports blog caught up with Golgol during the CECAFA
tournament taking place in Eritrea for an interview. Here below is the
interview in it's entirety. Golgol just turned twenty recently and he
played his first game of the season two weeks ago in a loss to
Melbourne Victory and will be playing this weekend against Perth. We
will keep you posted on his developments as we have done with Henok
Goitom. Meanwhile Goitom the La Liga Eritrean-Swede Star is ready to
get back on the field this weekend. He has put on the jersey he wears
his last name in the Eritrean language of tigrinia "Goitom" in a show
of Pride for his roots as an Eritrean. So far there has not been any
issues raised and hopefully it will not be a big deal by the Spanish
premier league officials. Eritrea is proud of you Henok.
Meanwhile, here below is the entire interview that Eri-international
sports conducted with Golgol Mebrhatu.
First of all, thank you for allowing us to get to know you Golgol. Can
you briefly tell us where in Eritrea you were born and how old you were
when you moved to Sudan, and then on to Australia?
“I was actually born in Sudan, in Khartoum, and we lived there for four
years. My father moved our whole family back to Eritrea for four years,
then we went back to Sudan for one year, then came over here to
Australia when I was nine, almost 10.”
It was your English teacher that referred you to the Brisbane Olympic
team, and in one article it says “the rest is history”. Did you ever
think that one day you would come to Australia and pursue your dreams
of playing professional soccer?
“Not really. When I first came I was more into education, but as I
started playing and got older, some coaches encouraged me and so on. So
from there I developed a desire to play professional football. But not
at the start, no.”
Australia is a place where most people throughout the world don’t think
the game of soccer is popular – however, the Socceroos have proven that
they think they can play the game, as they have made it to the past two
World Cups. By starting your career professionally in this time and age
when the game is fast getting attention in the ‘Land Down Under’, you
seem to be in the right place at the right time. What are your thoughts
on that?
“Yes, definitely. It’s much like the US, I guess, our football is
growing now, our national team has been successful over the last couple
of years and it does give the football here in Australia more
credibility, so I guess it helps me and maybe gives me better chances
of being noticed.”
Has your family and the Eritrean community in Australia always been
supportive of your desire to play the game at a high level?
“Yes. My father and my brother, they used to play as well and my older
brothers used to play. They’ve always been supportive and encouraged me
to do my best, go out there and fulfil my dream.”
You were discovered by Gold Coast coach Miron Bleiberg while working
out at a very young age, and you have proven that you are capable of
making it as a star player in the A-League. Can you talk about the hard
work ethics it took you to get to this point?
“That again came from my parents. When they were encouraging me when I
was younger, when I had that desire to play as a professional
footballer, we sat down and from there, along with my brothers, I
started making a program for myself and I tried to train as often as I
could. If I wanted to be a pro, I thought I had to train like a pro, so
I trained every day and that was basically it. Just try as best as you
can, as often as you can, and see how it goes from there.”
You were injured early in your first season last year, and most
athletes don’t come back easily from an injury, but you seem to be
ready to play at a high level this year. What have you learned from
sitting out most of last season?
“I’ve absorbed how the game is played, how people train and people’s
attitudes, because it is a new environment for me – it’s only my first
year. It was a bit difficult at the start, but sitting out you can see
how the team plays, how the team trains and you can absorb more. That
helped me a lot with my game.”
Eritrea, your land of origin, and Australia, your adopted homeland,
have had a great relationship in the past and continue to do so. As an
Eritrean-Aussie, what are your plans to help develop the game in
Eritrea in the future?
“That depends how successful I am as a footballer I guess. If I keep
going the way I am and I keep developing and getting to higher stages,
I definitely would like to get involved with my home country and try
and set up academies and things like that, but that’s a long way down
the track. Like I said, it really depends on how successful I am with
my game – for me to be a role model I’d have to be playing at a decent
level and be in a position that other kids would aspire to. I’d
definitely like to get involved and time will tell I guess.”
There are many young kids coming up in Eritrea, and recently the youth
teams have had success in the Norway Cup and in mid-August, the
Eritrean national under-20 team will be hosting the Central and East
African tournament. What are your thoughts on that, and do you think
Eritrea has a chance to win at home in its first ever tournament as a
host?
“I’ve been following this up actually and it makes me very proud to see
that my blood country is doing really well. I’ve seen them; they’re
developing and hopefully they can do well. They’re at home and they’ve
been doing well in the past tournaments, so I hope they can win it.”
What are your expectations as an individual player, and as a team for
Gold Coast United in the A-League this year?
“For me, I’ve come back from injury, so I’m just trying to get a
starting position and cement myself as a Hyundai A-League player. From
there to help my team win the title and hopefully bigger things come
from that – representing my country, Australia, and so on.”
Has the name Golgol put a lot of pressure on you to score goals? Have
you asked your parents why they named you Golgol and if so, can you
elaborate?
“I have a big family, a family of seven, and my father named my family
like building a house. My sister, Seret, is the first part of the
house. My brother Hintsa is the next part of the house, in our language
of course, and then you’ve got Luwan, Dogol, and then Golgol. The
meaning of it is a vast plain, so it sort of relates to a soccer pitch.
That’s the way he named our family.”
As a person who has been following the success of young soccer players
of Eritrean heritage, it gives me great pleasure to see you playing the
game at a high level and I wish you all the best. If you would like to
add anything to the interview please feel free to do so. Thank you for
your time and good luck with your season.
“Thanks, I appreciate the way you’re supporting Eritrean athletes and I
hope to speak with you again soon as well.”
-ends-
Congratulations to Golgol and Henok. We hope to have more stories of
success for you as 2010 has been the year of Eritrean athletes.
For Eri-international sports blog,
Mike Seium
-- Posted By Eri-International Sports Comments to Eri-International Sports at 9/10/2010 03:12:00 PM----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----