When Valentino Yuel arrived to play football in Karshi, a town in southern Uzbekistan, he became an instant hit for a rather unexpected reason.
“They had never seen anyone of my color before and they had never seen black people,” he said.
“I was like ‘oh wow, okay’, it’s just so remote, and some of the places I’ve been, people look at you, you can’t be offended, you’re the outsider.”
Yuel is the ultimate football sidekick, with a ‘have boots, you’ll travel’ attitude.
“I’ve always been fascinated by different cultures and different languages, but just different ways people live,” he said of his latest contract in Hong Kong.
Since turning professional, Yuel has played in the Australian A-League, as well as clubs in Turkey, Iran, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Libya and now Hong Kong.
This is perhaps no surprise given his personal background.
Valentino Yuel still dreams of the day South Sudan qualifies for the World Cup. (Provided)
He was born in Kenya and grew up in refugee camps, before his family decided to flee the war in neighboring Sudan and settle in Adelaide.
The striker had started playing football at camp, but when Yuel, his parents, five other brothers and a sister arrived in Australia, money was tight.
So when the Plympton Bulldogs football club saw his talent and called him up, he had to play smart.
“I said ‘look, my parents have to pay the bills and put food on the table, if you can waive the (playing) fees,'” he said.
They did so and it was the start of a journey that would eventually see him move from the Bulldogs to top South Australian clubs Comets, Adelaide City, Cumberland and Campbelltown.
Full of ambition, he signed to play in the A-League with Western United, before move to Newcastlewhere he scored 10 goals in two seasons.
But the lure of abroad beckoned and he joined Iranian club Aluminum Arak, which plays in the Persian Gulf League.
“I wanted to go to a stronger league, a league that I can develop and where there is a lot of recognition,”
he said.
But traveling to a country like Iran comes with its own off-field challenges and he was caught up in protests after the death of a women’s rights activist.
“The country closed down a bit because of the army, the police started to have problems, there were a lot of protests,” he recalls.
“You’re in a bit of a bubble, there’s a lot of protection compared to being a foreigner, you have teammates who look after you, you have advisors who tell you places not to go.”
Winning in the Uzbek Super League was a special memory for Valentino Yuel. (Provided)
There is often little stability in football and six months later Yuel was heading to Qatar to play with Umm Salal.
The project was doomed to failure after just four weeks, when the coach was sacked, with the team’s imports gradually drained.
“They’re getting rid of everyone, I think I was there about three months, they told me ‘no hard feelings, you’re going to get all your money back,'” he said of his eventual departure.
Learn from “every opportunity”
After winning a court case against his former Iranian team Arak, FIFA, he returned to the A-League to play a season with Western Sydney Wanderers.
But the wanderlust returned and he left Australia to play with Uzbekistan Champions League side FC Nasaf, then with Libyan side Al Murooj and is now with Eastern Districts club in Hong Kong.
He does not regret the many stages of his football career.
“I believe in learning from every country and every opportunity that comes my way,”
he said.
But he admits that living with the uncertainty of so many short-term contracts has taken its toll.
“If I had to give advice to anyone or to my younger self, I should have stayed in Iran… adapted and learned the language,” he said.
“Adapt to the culture and find my feet, stay there longer and build a foundation.”
During all this, Yuel also became a major part of the South Sudan national team.
The team missed qualifying for the next World Cup, but he says there is still hope for the future.
“The youngest country in the world, we can dream, we must be able to invest a lot, the ultimate goal is to qualify, there is no reason why we cannot achieve it,” he declared.
Valentino Yuel and his partner Jacki Tut plan to get married next year. (Provided)
During all of Yuel’s travels and football career, his partner Jacki spent time with him or patiently waited in Melbourne.
“She got used to it over time, at the beginning of the relationship I explained to her, like where I’m going to be, I’m traveling,” he explained.
“We just made an agreement that once we were married, we would be together.“
That wedding is planned for next year, although Yuel’s football odyssey still has many chapters to write.
