Golgol Mebrahtu
Golgol Mebrahtu (born 28 August 1990) is an Australian professional football player who most recently played for Brisbane Roar.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Golgol Tedros Mebrahtu | ||
| Date of birth | 28 August 1990 | ||
| Place of birth | Khartoum, Sudan | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker, Winger | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Brisbane Roar | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Brisbane Northern Districts | |||
| Brisbane Olympic | |||
| 2009–2010 | Gold Coast United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009 | Brisbane Strikers | 8 | (0) |
| 2009–2012 | Gold Coast United | 26 | (0) |
| 2012–2014 | Melbourne Heart | 26 | (4) |
| 2014–2016 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 9 | (0) |
| 2016–2018 | Mladá Boleslav | 35 | (14) |
| 2018–2019 | Sparta Prague | 7 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | Puskás Akadémia | 17 | (1) |
| 2021– | Brisbane Roar | 0 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2011 | Australia U23 | 1 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 January 2021 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 2 June 2011 | |||
Early life
Mebrahtu is of Eritrean origin. Born in the capital of the African country of Sudan, Mebrahtu moved to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia aged nine as a refugee during the Eritrean–Ethiopian War in 1999.[1]
Club career
Gold Coast United
In June 2009, Mebrahtu signed a 3-year contract with Gold Coast United, after a successful trial at the club in April.[2]
He was discovered by Gold Coast coach Miron Bleiberg, while he was waiting for a helicopter to take him from Brisbane to the Gold Coast. Bleiberg spotted Mebrahtu training by himself and recognised him from a previous scouting mission.[2]
Melbourne Heart
For the 2012–13 season Mebrahtu played for Melbourne Heart. He wore the number 14 football jersey. In his first game for Melbourne Heart, he scored the winning goal in the 88th minute against Perth Glory. On 1 January 2013 he scored the first goal of that year.
On 2 February 2014 he was released from Melbourne Heart, 3 days before the end of the transfer window.[3]
Western Sydney Wanderers
On 3 February 2014, Mebrahtu signed with the Western Sydney Wanderers along with Daniel Mullen. However, since there were no spaces remaining in the club's A-League squad, he was only eligible to participate in the Western Sydney Wanderers' 2014 AFC Champions League campaign during the 2013–14 season.[4] On 5 March 2014, following a long-term injury to Tahj Minniecon, Mebrahtu was added to Western Sydney Wanderers' A-League squad.[5] Mebrahtu made his debut for the Wanderers against Sydney FC as a substitute in the 71st minute, but was replaced 6 minutes later when injured in a tackle by Sydney FC midfielder Richard Garcia.[6]
On 5 May 2016, Mebrahtu was released by the Western Sydney Wanderers.[7]
Mladá Boleslav
In mid-2016, Mebrahtu joined Czech First League club Mladá Boleslav in the Czech Republic.[8] He scored 6 goals in 14 matches in the 2017–18 season, but fell out of the matchday squad after the arrival of new Mladá Boleslav head coach Jozef Weber and Mebrahtu's contract was mutually terminated in August 2018.[9]
Sparta Prague
On 20 August 2018, it was announced he had signed a one-year contract with Sparta Prague and left the club at the end of the season.[10]
International career
Mebrahtu made his international debut for Australia's under-23 squad in 2011, coming on in the second half of in a loss to Japan U23.[11]
Because of his birthplace and ancestry, Mebrahtu is eligible to represent multiple teams internationally: Australia, the country he is now a naturalised citizen of and gained the status of professional footballer in, Sudan, the country of his birth, and, Eritrea, the country of his ancestry.
Mebrahtu was approached by Daniel Solomon, an agent from the Eritrean National Football Federation, to play for Eritrea, the land of his ancestry, in August 2018.[12][13]
He was called up to the Eritrean team for a World Cup qualifying playoff against Namibia in September 2019,[14] but did not feature in the matchday squads.[15][16]
A-League statistics
- As of 5 May 2016
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Asia | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Gold Coast United | 2009–10 | 6 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 6 | 0 |
| 2010–11 | 8 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 8 | 0 | |
| 2011–12 | 12 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 12 | 0 | |
| Gold Coast total | 26 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 | |
| Melbourne Heart | 2012–13 | 14 | 4 | – | – | – | – | 14 | 4 |
| 2013–14 | 12 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 12 | 0 | |
| Heart total | 26 | 4 | – | – | 0 | 0 | 26 | 4 | |
| Western Sydney Wanderers | 2013–14 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2014–15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2015–16 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 8 | 1 | |
| Wanderers total | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | |
| Career total | 62 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 5 | |
References
- "Refugee hardships put injuries into perspective". Sunshine Coast Daily. 9 January 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
- Miron's gut instinct now a fairytale for Golgol
- "Melbourne Heart release Mebrahtu". Football Federation Australia. 2 February 2014. Archived from the original on 25 March 2014.
- "Mebrahtu and Mullen become Wanderers". Football Federation Australia. 3 February 2014.
- "Mebrahtu joins A-League Squad". Football Federation Australia. 5 March 2014.
- Greco, John (9 March 2014). "Wanderers loss compounded by Mebrahtu injury". Football Federation Australia. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014.
- "Wanderers announce player departures". Western Sydney Wanderers. 5 May 2016.
- Somerford, Ben (14 August 2016). "Golgol's Czech mate move". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
- "Golgol do Sparty. Překvapivý tah, přichází v Boleslavi nechtěný útočník". iDNES.cz. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
- s, SPORT SK, s r o & Ringier Axel Springer Slovakia a. "Golgol Mebrahtu novou posilou Sparty Praha". Šport.sk. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
- "Second half Japan surge too much for Olyroos". GGArmy.com. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
- "Eritrea bid to poach Mebrahtu as club switch looms". The World Game. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
- "Golgol Mebrahtu for Eritrea?". 1 December 2018. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
- "Válogatott gólokra hajt Golgol | Puskás Ferenc Labdarúgó Akadémia". www.pfla.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 6 August 2020.
- FIFA.com. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers - Africa - Matches - Eritrea - Namibia - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
- FIFA.com. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers - Africa - Matches - Namibia - Eritrea - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
External links
- Golgol Mebrahtu at Soccerway