A sad day to the footballing world as the we announce the demise of ATSU the Ghanian international footballer and former Newcastle United player. The recent devastating earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey is the main cause of his untimely death. The body of the Ghanian international footballer was in search all these days but later found under rumble. Condolences to his family. RIP LEGEND
Awer Mabil's journey from life as a refugee in a hut built out of mud to scoring on his international debut is the stuff dreams are made of.
The 23-year-old grew up in a refugee camp in Kenya, where hunger and cramped conditions were everyday problems for his family.
After moving to Australia as part of a humanitarian programme, he was subjected to racism as he tried to make it as a footballer.
But he has come through it all, and scored on his debut for his adopted nation in a 4-0 win in Kuwait in October.
Mabil was born in a refugee camp in Kakuma, Kakuma after his parents fled the civil war in Sudan.
Hunger and cramped conditions were just two of the daily challenges faced by his family.
"We built a hut out of mud," he tells the BBC's World Football programme. "Probably the size of one bedroom in a normal house in the Western world, as you would call it.
"But you know it's not your home. There were four of us living in it - me, my mum, my brother and sister. We got food from the UN once a month.
"Each person would get 1kg of rice, so we had 4kg in our family, and 3kg of beans. It got tricky because we had to ration it.
"We had one meal a day, which was dinner. There was no such thing as breakfast or lunch. You just had to find your way through the day and the little dinner that you had, you really had to appreciate it."
Two-hour walk to watch football
Mabil, a winger, started playing football in the refugee camp from the age of five, kicking a ball around with his friends "because there was little else to do".
But the Manchester United-mad youngster had a long walk if he wanted to watch a football match on televison.
"I loved playing football. It was the only thing that kept me out of trouble," he says. "I followed Manchester United a lot, but there was only one TV, two hours away, and you had to pay $1 to watch.
"If you couldn't go, you just had to make sure that one of your friends who went told you the result."
His life changed in 2006, when he and his family were resettled in Australia.
"I thought, 'yeah, my chance is now - if I work hard, everything can happen and I can chase my dreams.' That's when it really began.
"Thanks to football, I began to speak English and express my feelings. That's when it started to kick in."
He was signed by Adelaide United at the age of 16 and had two seasons in the A-League, which included an FFA Cup win in 2014.
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