Golgol Mebrahtu

Summary

Golgol Mebrahtu (born 28 August 1990) is a professional football player who plays as a forward for NPL Victoria club Bentleigh Greens. Born an Eritrean refugee in Sudan, he represented Australia at youth level before switching to represent Eritrea at senior level.[1]

Golgol Mebrahtu
Personal information
Full name Golgol Tedros Mebrahtu
Date of birth (1990-08-28) 28 August 1990 (age 33)
Place of birth Khartoum, Sudan
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Bentleigh Greens
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 12 (1)
2022 PSM Makassar 7 (0)
2022–2023 Avondale 1 (0)
2023– Bentleigh Greens 4 (0)
International career
2011 Australia U23 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 July 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2 June 2011

Early life edit

Born in Sudan, Mebrahtu is of Eritrean descent. Mebrahtu moved to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia at age nine as a refugee from the Eritrean–Ethiopian War in 1999.[2]

Club career edit

Gold Coast United edit

In June 2009, Mebrahtu signed a 3-year contract with Gold Coast United, after a successful trial at the club in April.[3]

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.[3]

Melbourne Heart edit

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.[4]

Western Sydney Wanderers edit

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.[5] On 5 March 2014, following a long-term injury to Tahj Minniecon, Mebrahtu was added to Western Sydney Wanderers' A-League squad.[6] 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.[7]

On 5 May 2016, Mebrahtu was released by the Western Sydney Wanderers.[8]

Mladá Boleslav edit

In mid-2016, Mebrahtu joined Czech First League club Mladá Boleslav in the Czech Republic.[9] 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.[10]

Sparta Prague edit

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.

Brisbane Roar edit

On 22 January 2021, it was announced that Mebrahtu had signed a deal with Brisbane Roar. He scored his first goal for the club on March 21, a late equaliser in a 1–1 draw against Wellington Phoenix.

PSM Makassar edit

On 11 January 2022, Indonesian top flight side PSM Makassar announced it had signed Mebrahtu.[11]

International career edit

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.[12]

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.[13][14]

He was called up to the Eritrean team for a World Cup qualifying playoff against Namibia in September 2019,[15] but did not feature in the matchday squads.[16][17]

Honours edit

Club edit

Gold Coast United
Western Sydney Wanderers

References edit

  1. ^ https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/11/28/missing-in-action-how-eritrean-football-was-deflated-at-home-and-abroad
  2. ^ "Refugee hardships put injuries into perspective". Sunshine Coast Daily. 9 January 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Miron's gut instinct now a fairytale for Golgol". Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  4. ^ "Melbourne Heart release Mebrahtu". Football Federation Australia. 2 February 2014. Archived from the original on 25 March 2014.
  5. ^ "Mebrahtu and Mullen become Wanderers". Football Federation Australia. 3 February 2014. Archived from the original on 25 March 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  6. ^ "Mebrahtu joins A-League Squad". Football Federation Australia. 5 March 2014. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
  7. ^ Greco, John (9 March 2014). "Wanderers loss compounded by Mebrahtu injury". Football Federation Australia. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014.
  8. ^ "Wanderers announce player departures". Western Sydney Wanderers. 5 May 2016. Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  9. ^ Somerford, Ben (14 August 2016). "Golgol's Czech mate move". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  10. ^ "Golgol do Sparty. Překvapivý tah, přichází v Boleslavi nechtěný útočník". iDNES.cz. 20 August 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  11. ^ "Profil Golgol Mebrahtu Striker Baru PSM Makassar". sulsel.idntimes.com. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  12. ^ "Second half Japan surge too much for Olyroos". GGArmy.com. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  13. ^ "Eritrea bid to poach Mebrahtu as club switch looms". The World Game. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  14. ^ "Golgol Mebrahtu for Eritrea?". 1 December 2018. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  15. ^ "Válogatott gólokra hajt Golgol | Puskás Ferenc Labdarúgó Akadémia". www.pfla.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  16. ^ FIFA.com. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers - Africa - Matches - Eritrea - Namibia". www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  17. ^ FIFA.com. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Qualifiers - Africa - Matches - Namibia - Eritrea". www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020.

External links edit

  • Golgol Mebrahtu at Soccerway