Awer Mabil #11

Profile

It’s not often a footballer’s off-field feats match those on it, but Mabil is a rare case. Born to South Sudanese parents in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, Mabil started playing football at the age of five, without footwear and using a rolled-up sock as a ball. His experiences before leaving the camp for Adelaide at the age of 10 shaped the person he is today and his humanitarian work as an adult earned him the Young Australian of the Year award in 2023. His foundation, Barefoot to Boots, is a not-for-profit organisation which aims for better health, education, policies and gender equality for refugees. On the pitch, Mabil made his debut for the Soceroos in 2018 and has gone on to make 38 appearances, scoring 10 goals, at the time of writing.

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