Kenyan Refugee Shares Powerful Statement After Scoring Winning Penalty for Australia

• Awer Mabil scored the decisive penalty to send Australia to the World Cup at the expense of Peru
• His name might not sound too familiar, but a dig into his past will reveal that he has Kenyan roots
• Australia’s hero revealed in the post-match interview that he was born at a refugee camp

Awer Mabil has nobly declared that his decisive penalty which helped Australia secure a ticket to the World Cup was a ‘thank you’ to the country for accepting his family.

The 26-year old exhibited nerves of steel as he tucked away Australia’s sixth and decisive penalty to beat Peru for a World Cup ticket.

Following the triumph, Australia impressively secured a fifth straight World Cup appearance.

For Mabil, the win bore more personal significance as it capped off his remarkable journey from a Kenyan refugee camp to the pinnacle of world football.

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Mabil’s remarkable story

As reported by Sunsport, Mabil was born at a refugee camp in Kenya, after his parents fled a war-stricken Sudan 26-years ago.

As a child, he was mostly forced to fend for himself, and it is at the refugee camp that he started developing his skills in football.

He received the rare chance to go to Australia in 2006, where he still settled in as a refugee.

Thanks to his prowess on a football, he gained recognition from Adelaide United, before moving to Danish club FC Midtjylland.

"I knew I was going to score. It was the only way to say thank you to Australia on behalf of my family," the winger said in a post-match interview after his heroics in the shootout on Monday, June 13.

"I was born in a hut, a little hut. My hotel room here is definitely bigger than the hut, the room we had as a family in that refugee camp," he said.

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"For Australia to take us in and resettle us, it gave me and my siblings and my whole family a chance at life.

Australia’s backup goalkeeper with the heroics

Earlier, Sports Brief reported of how Australia’s backup goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne was the unexpected hero as he saved a crucial penalty to ensure his side qualified for the World Cup

With the game headed for penalties, Australia’s head coach Graham Arnold made the bold decision to substitute Ryan and replaced him with Redmayne. Redmayne was only making his third appearance for the national side.

It was Redmayne’s dancing tactics in the goal area that got the attention of the global audience. The 33-year-old paced on the touchline before any Peruvian player took his spot-kick.