Thomas Jok Deng (born 20 March 1997) is an Australian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Japanese club

Albirex Niigata is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. From 2023, Albirex will be playing on the J1 League, coming back to the f ...

. Born a South Sudanese refugee in Kenya, he has represented the Australia national team.

Personal life

Thomas Jok Deng was born on 20 March 1997 into a family of

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...

ese refugees in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

. He, along with his family, were fleeing from the conflict in South Sudan and eventually resettled in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, in 2003, when Deng was six years old. Deng has four older siblings, as well as a half-brother who lives in Uganda. His older brother, Peter Deng, has represented

at senior level.

Club career

Deng's first club, along with his good friend and fellow refugee and Socceroo Awer Mabil, was the Adelaide Blue Eagles. After the family had moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 2011, Deng made his senior football debut as a 16 year old in 2013 at Western Eagles F.C. under then-manager Budala Barešić-Nikić in the

Victorian State League Division 3 The Victorian State League Division 3 is the sixth tier soccer competition (behind the National Premier Leagues) in Victoria, Australia, and the seventh nationally, including the A-League. It is conducted by the Football Federation Victoria ...

. The following season, the youngster moved to nearby

Green Gully SC Green Gully Soccer Club is an Australian association football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Green Gully is one of the largest clubs in Melbourne, having participated in the now defunct National Soccer League between 1984–1986. The club c ...

, where manager Bob Stojcevski recruited Deng to play for the club's u20 side. He was eventually promoted to the senior team and made 13 first team appearances in the

NPL Victoria The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer lea ...

in 2014. Following his impressive performances at Gully, Melbourne Victory National Youth League coach Darren Davies rewarded Deng with a youth contract. Deng debuted for the senior team for

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victor ...

against

Balmain Tigers The Balmain Tigers (also known as the Sydney Tigers from 1995–96) are a rugby league club based in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Balmain. They were a founding member of the New South Wales Rugby League and one of the most successful i ...

in the

2015 FFA Cup The 2015 FFA Cup was the second season of the FFA Cup, the main national soccer knockout cup competition in Australia. 32 teams began competition in the competition proper (from the round of 32), including all 10 A-League teams, the reigning Nat ...

. He made his A-League debut on 9 October 2015 against

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...

, as a substitute replacing

Fahid Ben Khalfallah Fahid Ben Khalfallah ( ar, فهيد بن خلف الله; born 9 October 1982) is a retired professional footballer who last played for and was head coach of Australian side Nunawading City. Born in France, he represented the Tunisia national ...

after a

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

was shown to

Leigh Broxham Leigh Michael Broxham (born 13 January 1988) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Melbourne Victory in the A-League. As of May 2021, he currently holds the record for most appearances for Melbourne Victory, p ...

. Thomas made his starting debut in the A-League for Melbourne Victory on 17 October 2015 in round 2 against town rivals, Melbourne City, where he was selected as Man of the Match by supporters and social media. In June 2016, Deng moved to Jong PSV on a one-year loan deal. After making five appearances, he returned to Melbourne Victory at the end of the season. In January 2020, Deng left Melbourne Victory to join Japanese club

Urawa Red Diamonds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

following his performance at the

2020 AFC U-23 Championship The 2020 AFC U-23 Championship was the fourth edition of the AFC U-23 Championship, the biennial international age-restricted football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-23 national teams of Asi ...

International career

He was part of the main squad of the

Olyroos The Australia national under-23 soccer team represents Australia in international under-23 soccer and at the Olympic Games. The team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia (FA), which is currently a membe ...

at the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship and put on an extremely impressive display throughout the tournament, garnering high praise from respected Australian pundits: Geoff Fullgrabe, Alan Vucenik, and

Craig Foster use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , nationality = , other_names = , siglum = , citizenship = , education = , ...

. Due to being born in Kenya and having

South Sudanese South Sudan is home to around 60 indigenous ethnic groups and 80 linguistic partitions among a population of around million. Historically, most ethnic groups were lacking in formal Western political institutions, with land held by the communit ...

heritage, he is eligible to play for Australia,

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

and

. In October 2018, Deng was named in the Socceroos squad for their training camp in the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

and their friendly against

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. In the friendly he made his debut, together with fellow South Sudanese refugee and boyhood friend Awer Mabil. On 22 July 2021, Deng captained Australia in a historic 2–0 win over Argentina in the first group game of the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

in Tokyo, also winning the Player of the Match award.

Honours

Melbourne Victory *

A-League Championship A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professionalism in association football, professional men's association football, soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Austral ...

: 2017–18 *

FFA Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Austral ...

: 2015 Albirex Niigata * J2 League:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

References

External links