{"id":18863,"date":"2022-06-16T10:39:03","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T10:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/after-mabil-another-refugee-footballer-writes-history"},"modified":"2022-06-16T10:53:36","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T10:53:36","slug":"after-mabil-another-refugee-footballer-writes-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/after-mabil-another-refugee-footballer-writes-history","title":{"rendered":"After Mabil, another refugee footballer writes history"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Sudan. <\/strong><\/span>Just a day after Aweer Mabil, a former South Sudanese refugee cum footballer sent Australia to the 2023 FIFA World Cup with a last kick of the ball from the penalty spot, back at home in Juba, another refugee was also scripting his piece of the history.<\/p>\n

Mabil is a South Sudanese-Australian football professional who grew up in a refugee camp in Kenya. He scored the winning goal against Peru which sent Australia to the World Cup due in December in Qatar.<\/p>\n

But while his name is still fresh on the lips of football lovers, here in his motherland, little-known Issa Nizihiyiman, an amateur goalkeeper who once escaped poverty in Burundi mesmerized fans with another outstanding display of talent by saving three penalties in a single shoot-out.<\/p>\n

Nizigiyiman, who lives in South Sudan on refugee status, was the goalkeeper for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) team. The UN staff were playing a friendly match against a team of refugees from South Sudan.<\/p>\n

Ironically, the match was staged at a FIFA-funded project \u2013 Baluk playground \u2013 a well-laid artificial grass playing surface that sits quietly between a bamboo-made perimeter wall that guards the facility against external forces.<\/p>\n

It acted as a precursor to the 2022 World Refugee Day due on June 20.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis game made me recall those days when I was among one of the best-known goalkeepers in Burundi,\u201d told City Review after saving three penalties in a shootout.<\/p>\n

Little was known about Nizigiyiman until he pulled a jaw-dropping performance on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Nizigiyimana was the man between the sticks and the last line of defence for UNHCR, a side that was just five minutes away from an impending defeat until Wahib Alrayah an equalizer in the 85th minute.<\/p>\n

The strike meant that the game had to be settled in a shootout, from 12 yards out, after both sides failed to settle matters in regulation time.<\/p>\n

An athletic Nizigiyimana, saved all the three shots, a performance that saved UNHRC staff blushes; an impending embarrassment.<\/p>\n

The game ended 3-1 with the humanitarian side as the victors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a good goalkeeper in those days. If it wasn\u2019t for poverty, I could have become a better goalkeeper in the best teams in my country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe I can still play some good football if I find somewhere to train\u201d noted Nizigiyiman while reflecting on the missed opportunities.<\/p>\n

But this football match made him remember his mother country, a country that he had to flee for his safety only to land in South Sudan, a nation equally struggling with her fair share of challenges, including Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).<\/p>\n

\u201cI come from a family where everyone has to struggle to put something (food) on the table. So I thought to myself that some of us need to move on somewhere if we are to change our family lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s how I found my way to South Sudan in 2013,\u201d Nizigiyimana revealed.<\/p>\n

The game also presented Joseph Martin Dibamona, one of the oldest players in the refugee team, an opportunity to relive his youthful days when he used to kick a locally made ball with her age mates while growing up in the Democratic Republic of Congo.<\/p>\n

Dibamona moved to South Sudan as a refugee about seven years back.<\/p>\n

He was forced to flee his country for South Sudan due to conflict in DRC.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am happy to play with these young boys. I wish such competition would change people\u2019s hearts to give peace a chance to enable these youth to continue practising their talents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said although his group lost the game, they picked valuable lessons even as they remained hopeful that the situation will improve, that they will return home and maybe play a football game with their old friends.<\/p>\n

The match attracted a big audience, including top government officials led by South Sudan\u2019s Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr Albino Bol Dhieu.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Sudan<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Just a day after Aweer Mabil, a former South Sudanese refugee cum footballer sent Australia to the 2023 FIFA World Cup with a last kick of the ball from the penalty spot, back at home in Juba, another refugee was also scripting his piece of the history. Mabil is a South Sudanese-Australian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":18862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[234,265,3102,3101,319,233],"class_list":["post-18863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-sudan","tag-australia-at-fifa-world-cup","tag-aweer-mabil","tag-refugees","tag-south-sudan"],"yoast_head":"\nAfter Mabil, another refugee footballer writes history - South Sudan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Just a day after Aweer Mabil, a former South Sudanese refugee cum footballer sent Australia to the 2023 FIFA World Cup w ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/after-mabil-another-refugee-footballer-writes-history\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"After Mabil, another refugee footballer writes history\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Just a day after Aweer Mabil, a former South Sudanese refugee cum footballer sent Australia to the 2023 FIFA World Cup w ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/after-mabil-another-refugee-footballer-writes-history\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Sudan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-16T10:39:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-16T10:53:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2022\/06\/postQueueImg_7-62ab0b8ddb5ce.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1429\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"954\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/after-mabil-another-refugee-footballer-writes-history#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/after-mabil-another-refugee-footballer-writes-history\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"After Mabil, another refugee footballer writes history\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-16T10:39:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-16T10:53:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/after-mabil-another-refugee-footballer-writes-history\"},\"wordCount\":671,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/after-mabil-another-refugee-footballer-writes-history#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2022\/06\/postQueueImg_7-62ab0b8ddb5ce.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Sudan\",\"Australia at FIFA World Cup\",\"Aweer Mabil\",\"Refugees\",\"South-Sudan\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/after-mabil-another-refugee-footballer-writes-history#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/after-mabil-another-refugee-footballer-writes-history\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/after-mabil-another-refugee-footballer-writes-history\",\"name\":\"After Mabil, another refugee footballer writes history - 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