Socceroos winger, Awer Mabil, feels whenever he achieves something in football it's qualified, or "downgraded" with the preface that he grew up in a refugee camp in Kenya, escaping the war in South-Sudan. He told The Feed the media's portrayal makes his achievements seem like they can't stand up for themselves.
Mabil is South Sudanese but feels the need to make clear that he's also an Australian with an Australian passport.
"I am very proud of my roots. But in the middle, I'm called a refugee aren't I," Mabil said.
The label of "refugee" footballer has followed Mabil throughout his career. He's often felt lost in his story, it's something that used to frustrate him - but he's never spoken about it publicly until now.
Awer Mabil with fans at full time of the FIFA World Cup Qualifier soccer match between Australia and Nepal on October 10, 2019. Source: Getty Images
Mabil is the only Australian playing in this year's UEFA Champions League group stage, a competition widely considered the pinnacle of world football. But the journey's not been easy. When the Socceroos player arrived in Denmark to sign for his current club Midtjylland, the first few seasons didn't go to plan.
"Coming here to Europe, I'm not favored as much as I would be in Australia," he said.
Mabil spent the first two seasons after he signed for Midtjylland on loan, first to Danish club Esbjerg fB, and then to Portuguese club Paços de Ferreira. He suffered consecutive relegations with both clubs, which means they were sent to the division below.
It was a tough period, Mabil even considered a move back to Australia at the time. If Mabil took the decision to return, he believes could've gone back to playing week in week out in the A-League with the support of his friends and family.
It's a decision that's been taken by many Australian footballers playing in Europe over the last decade. But he didn't want to take the easy way out.
"That's comfortable," Mabil said.
"[But] I had to learn that being uncomfortable is where I push my limit. And that's where I grow the most."
Now, Mabil is sharing the pitch with players he's idolised for years, he describes playing against the likes of Liverpool's Saido Mane and Mohamed Salah as the realisation of a dream. They are players he wants to replicate.
Awer Mabil during his time playing for A-League club Adelaide United. Source: Getty Images
"If I just turned my back and then went home, then I could never realise what I can accomplish," he said.
But overcoming those hurdles to score his first goal in the Champions League, or playing against some of the best teams in Europe haven't been recognised in the right way, according to Mabil.
He believes the focus is too often about him being a refugee, rather than his achievements on the pitch.
"I have that title of being a refugee," Mabil said.
But he says "sometimes it would be nice" if his journey to Europe had more of a focus on his exploits on the pitch and choices, opposed to the narrative that's followed his career: he came from a refugee camp.
Media headlines about Awer Mabil mentioning the word 'refugee'. Source: SBS
When he was a 15 year-old in Adelaide he received a scholarship from the South Australian Sports Institute.
Mabil went on to sign for A-League club Adelaide United having a starring role in the team before leaving for Europe in 2015.
A few years after his move to Midtjylland, Mabil donned the green and gold of Australia for the first time against Kuwait in 2018. And so far, he's has scored four goals in 14 appearances for the Socceroos.
Mabil didn’t choose to sign for just any club in Europe: Midtjylland is recognised as a trailblazer when it comes to innovation in football. They’ve utilised analytics within the sport, brought in ideas from American football, and been able to build a team from humble beginnings to winning titles in Denmark.
Awer Mabil walks out onto the field during an Australian Socceroos training session. Source: Getty Images
"But at the same time, some people have to be downgraded. You know what I mean," he said.
"Some people don't want to give you the credit for things that have appeared so far in my career."
But Mabil isn't looking for recognition, he says, his only focus is keeping his family, his coaches and his fans proud. And one of the coaches he's most impressed by is his Socceroos coach Graham Arnold.
Mabil describes Arnold as "the best" because he's not just a refugee or someone to feel sorry for -- he's a person to him.
But outside of that, Mabil says, "For me, I don't think many people know Awer Mabil, they know the story."
Awer Mabil celebrating with Socceroos coach Graham Arnold. Source: Getty Images
"But they don't know the real person. And I don't know how that will come out. But they have to know me as a person inside. And they have to really talk to me, in order to know me."
He says he's gone along with being title of "the refugee" footballer because it's what people have wanted to hear from him.
"I understand the game, I understand politics, I understand the media [and] how they work," he said.
The narrative of playing football on sandy pitches in East Africa barefoot in a refugee camp or escaping the war in South Sudan are topics Mabil believes have been the only ones people have been paying attention to -- and not his football.
"But you [if] want to dig deep and say, okay, who's Awer? And I'll give you the answer. I'm open," he said.
"But a lot of people just want to take advantage [of me] because at the moment, I'm very popular.
"And people want to read about it. But how do you get out the message that people can understand and take something from, and not just feeling sorry from where I came from."
Mabil doesn't want anyone's "pity" but at the moment he believes that's all he's getting.
"I don't want people to feel sorry for me, I want people to take the good from me," he said.
He wants an end to the perpetual use of the line, 'he came from a refugee camp'.
Awer Mabil celebrates with his FC Midtjylland teammates after the clinched the Danish Superlig title last season. Source: FrontzoneSport
He would prefer people focus on his mentality, his values and what drives him to succeed rather than the trope of coming from the developing world and escaping a war zone.
"Rather than looking at 'oh he was less fortunate.' Man, I was not less fortunate," Mabil said.
"I learned so much values, just from for my life and from my mum."
Mabil has no issues about where he came from, or where he's headed. He's proud to be a role model for kids in the refugee camp he grew up in, it's a place he's visited and spent some time in recent years.
"Because they know somebody from there can go and achieve something but the title shouldn't define them [either]," he said.
Mabil recalls messages from people across Australia proud that he's playing in the Champions League, they didn't know he came from a refugee camp -- he was just one of them.
Awer Mabil doesn’t want anyone’s “pity” but at the moment he believes that’s all he’s getting. Source: Getty Images
"I'm not only representing refugees, I'm representing everybody."
