http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/football/a-league/teams/western-sydney/western-sydney-wanderers-golgol-mebrahtu-on-why-hes-thankful-for-every-chance-he-gets/news-story/08aff11323955a42f34e3adee3f062c3
Western Sydney Wanderers’ Golgol Mebrahtu on why he’s thankful for
every chance he gets
December 31, 2015 3:33am
TOM SMITHIESThe Daily Telegraph
EVEN after everything he’s been through, cheerfulness is the defining
characteristic of Golgol Mebrahtu. From civil war to serious injury,
his has been a tale of rebounding time and again, seeing the light at
the end of the tunnel often enough only to find the tunnel taking a
diversion.
Maybe the Wanderers winger has learnt to live in the moment, and enjoy
what he can.
“Now I feel unbelievable, with nothing on my mind, just confidence,”
he declares with a seriously wide smile, hoping for more action off
the bench against Adelaide on Friday night.
For a player with only six starts in five years, thanks to a
succession of injuries, you might expect a warier disposition. But
then there are things that the 25-year-old has experienced and seen
that give him what he calls “a real perspective”.
“I’ve lost many members of my family to war, they never had any
opportunity in life,” he said. “So my mentality is that whatever has
come my way, what can I gain from it?”
‘That’ war was the bloody 30-year conflict between Eritrea and
Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa, from the horrors of which his family
had fled to safety in Sudan before he and five of his six siblings
were born.
Aged five, he and his family returned cautiously to Eritrea after the
war ended in 1995 — only to flee again when it re-exploded in 1999,
earning refugee status in Australia a year later. It was a formative
time.
“Mostly I was still a little child, but when we had gone back to
Eritrea (in 1995), I started to understand things,” he said.
“I remember quite a bit of it — it’s a very difficult life compared
with what we have here in Australia, with the freedom to do what we
like, the opportunity we have, the lifestyle.
“It’s a completely different world over there and that never leaves
me. I think it keeps me grounded. It also motivates me, to do well and
represent my family and my people.
Wanderers’ Golgol Mebrahtu has plenty of perspective on his life as a
professional athlete.
“When we got to Australia, I’d never seen so much green grass and
trees, it was foreign to me — the buildings, the roads, a complete
switch. The funny thing is that’s where football came in.
“It’s what we used to play back in Eritrea, and football was what
helped me get integrated in to Australian society and culture.
“We came here with no family except my siblings and parents. So
football was how I met my closest friends growing up in school in
Brisbane. All I wanted to do was play football, because you don’t feel
the memories of the past when you’re playing football.”
By 15 Mebrahtu was playing at Brisbane Strikers, forging enough of a
reputation for Miron Bleiberg to track him, and — after a chance
meeting in a park — offer him a contract at Gold Coast United. His
talent was clear and after United folded he went first to Melbourne
Heart and then the Wanderers, never able to sustain a run of games
without injury.
The worst came nearly 21 months ago, just six minutes into his
Wanderers debut in the derby, when his knee imploded and needed a full
reconstruction.
Nor has his rehab been straightforward, a comeback in the FFA Cup in
August provoking a hamstring issue, and prompting Tony Popovic to hold
him back for three months of training and conditioning.
The A-League will be a better place to see Mebrahtu in action again.
“I’d had injuries prior to my knee going in the derby, but at the time
it happened, I questioned how it was possible,” Mebrahtu said. “Your
debut, your first touch, in the derby. I had tears in my eyes that
night, and a lot of things going through my mind.
“But the next morning my roommate Daniel Mullen woke me up, and told
me to come and look at the news on the TV. It was the MH370 plane that
had gone missing, and he told me: I can’t empathise with what you’re
going through, but life’s not over. You have a contract, and you will
come back. That gave me a real perspective.
“When I look at the hurdles I have overcome, they have all played a
part in who I am today. I have that faith in God watching over me and
this is all part of the journey.
“I can say now, almost two years after the fact, I definitely wouldn’t
have learnt the lessons I have had this not happened to me.
“I’m still very grateful: I’m a healthy young man with two arms and
two legs, I play football for a living, I should be very grateful.”
Originally published as Wanderer thankful for every chance
Received on Thu Dec 31 2015 - 21:55:42 EST