Friday morning was a big one for the Kuol family.
Shepparton’s Garang Kuol has been loaned out from Newcastle FC to Scottish club Hearts for the rest of the season, while older brother Alou has been nominated for FIFA’s Puskas award.
Eighteen-year-old Garang, who in December became the youngest person to play in a World Cup round-of-16 game since Pele, will line up in the maroon of Hearts pending clearance.
He will join a host of Australians, including World Cup squad teammates Kyle Rowles, Nathaniel Atkinson and Cammy Devlin, at the Edinburgh-based club.
Kuol came off the bench with 20 minutes to go in Hearts’ 1-0 victory over St Mirren at Tynecastle and had three touches, including a scintillating run down the wing and a cross in which wasn’t converted.
He was selected for the World Cup squad off exciting form for the Mariners in the A-League and scored four times in seven games in the A-League this season for the Mariners.
Kuol toured Hearts shortly after arriving in the UK early this year, to the delight of Hearts manager Robbie Neilson.
“It’s fantastic news that Garang has committed himself to Hearts for the next six months,” Neilson told Hearts’ website.
“It’s no secret that we were extremely interested in him and he came up for a look around last week.
“He was impressed with what he saw and what we’re trying to do here, which is pleasing.
“We’re getting a player who is by no means the finished article, but there is a lot of talent there — you don’t get called up to and play in the World Cup for nothing.
“He’ll offer us new options going forward as we look to continue our good form and continue to make progress in the league and in the Scottish Cup, and we’re really looking forward to working with him.”
Sporting director Joe Savage said the club was “thrilled” to welcome Garang to Gorgie.
“His talents were courted by some of the biggest clubs in the continent when he was playing in Australia and he went on to play in the World Cup finals, so to be able to bring such an exciting prospect to Hearts speaks volumes about the appeal of our club.
“I have to extend a big thank you to Kwaku Mensah and Newcastle United’s Shola Ameobi and Dan Ashworth for placing their trust in us and helping to bring Garang here.
“We’re all really looking forward to Garang pulling on the maroon jersey and I know our fans will be excited by him, too.”
Meanwhile, Garang’s brother Alou has been nominated for FIFA’s Puskas Award for a scorpion kick against Iraq for Australia’s under-23 side.
Kuol scored the goal as part of the under-13 Asian Cup, which was held in Uzbekistan, where Australia finished fourth behind Japan, Uzbekistan and winners Saudi Arabia.
The Puskas award is the award given to the goal of the year, named in honour of Real Madrid and Hungarian striker Ferenc Puskas.