Alou Kuol opens up about frustrating German stint, Olyroos reunion with Garang

It is a very long way from Shepparton, and from where they might have thought they would be by now. But the reunion has come at just the right time.

Alou, the elder brother, and Garang are in France with the Olyroos. They are roommates, teammates and different types of soulmates.

“It’s cute,” Alou tells CODE Sports of being back with Garang.

“But at the same time, he’s a little bit of a show off this kid.”

It is the first time the siblings, who shot out of obscurity in Shepparton to the Central Coast Mariners then to lucrative overseas deals in next to no time, have played in the same national team before.

Alou has featured for the under 23s and under 20s. But never with Garang, who got catapulted straight into the Socceroos and last year’s World Cup.

The setting for their reunion is France, for the prestigious Maurice Revello tournament with Australia’s under 23 side as the qualifiers for next year’s Paris Olympics draw closer.

Are they on the same page?

Nearly. Almost.

“Little bit but we haven’t played together in years,” Alou says.

“He’s got his ideas, I’ve got my ideas. He thinks his ideas are better!”

Whatever the case, both are just relieved to be playing again after a rough six months.

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Sam Kerr is about the only Australian footballer to have been talked about more than Garang Kuol in the past year.

Kuol junior made his Socceroos debut last September, secured a move to Premier League giants Newcastle United, and nearly stole the show against Argentina in Qatar.

The boom on him was sonic. Six months on, he can’t be considered a bust, but there have been immense challenges. Or, as others label it, reality.

After the World Cup came a loan move from Newcastle to Hearts. Some introduction to British football. Garang played just nine games in six months, including just one brief cameo off the bench for the whole of April and May.

Graham Arnold decided to send him to the Olyroos squad instead of the Socceroos group in Beijing to play Argentina. He needed confidence.

But if he was expecting sympathy after the loan spell at Hearts, big brother Alou didn’t provide it.

“When he first came (to Scotland) and wasn’t playing for the first two weeks, I started laughing at him,” Alou tells CODE from France.

“Everything is sunshine and rainbows until you stop playing! Got a little taste of reality. Told him it’s character building.”

Alou has gone through his own hardships, removed from the limelight, in Germany.

After a breakout season with Central Coast, Alou joined German giants Stuttgart in 2021. A four-year deal. Decent money. Sunshine and rainbows.

The plan to play regular Bundesliga football, though, is still frustratingly under construction.

Alou has played just one top flight game, five minutes off the bench in January. Stuttgart went through four managers in a season where they just survived in the top division. The 21-year-old was kicked back to the second team, where the manager lost faith in him.

“Hasn’t been good at all,” Kuol says.

“The past six months I have probably played about 5-6 games. It’s been a mental toll really.

“Every new coach that came in, there was an opportunity to play, but kept changing, kept changing, and by the time it got to the last one, I got dropped to the second team.

“Didn’t play at all there, got just six minutes of game time in the last two weeks.”

None of this was a surprise to Alou. He knew of the dangers, though backed himself.

His ability was there for all to see last June, when he scored an outrageous scorpion kick goal for the Olyroos. The finish scored Alou a nomination for the Puskas Award for FIFA’s goal of the year.

But it was a mere flash. The daily grind in Germany was devoid of glitz and glamour.

“When you live in Australia, all you want to do is get to Europe,” Kuol says.

“But the grass ain’t greener on the other side always. Got to be ready mentally, physically, and also you gotta mature a bit, or you won’t go far.

“Get to see it with your own eyes. Even if it’s not you, it could be your teammates. When it happens to you, you’re like, ah shit, what can you do?

“Gotta keep working.”

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Alou has two years left on his deal with Stuttgart, and is looking at all options to ensure one thing: game time.

A loan from Stuttgart is most likely. He is open to coming ‘home’, declaring the Mariners are “100 per cent an option”.

“I’ll look at my options in Europe, but would love to come back to the Mariners, play with Monty and Serge,” Kuol says of Mariners manager Nick Montgomery and his trusty sidekick Sergio Raimundo, who recently won the A-League championship.

“Given what they’ve done with the club, to be a part of it will be great.”

Alou hopes to have his next season at club level sorted within a month.

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In the meantime, there is a tournament to win with the Olyroos, who play Panama this Friday night in the Maurice Revello semi-finals.

“Just here enjoying our time together, boys are really coming together to try to win this tournament,” Alou says.

“Camp’s good, the vibes are good.“