Thomas Deng

Thomas Jok Deng (born 20 March 1997) is a professional soccer player who plays as a central defender for J1 League club Albirex Niigata. Born a South Sudanese refugee in Kenya, he has represented the Australia national team.

Thomas Deng
Personal information
Full name Thomas Jok Deng[1]
Date of birth (1997-03-20) 20 March 1997
Place of birth Nairobi, Kenya
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2][3]
Position(s) Centre-back, right-back[4][5]
Team information
Current team
 Albirex Niigata
Number 3
Youth career
Adelaide Blue Eagles
Playford City
2011–2013 Western Eagles
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013 Western Eagles 15 (2)
2014 Green Gully 13 (0)
2015–2016 Melbourne Victory NPL 10 (0)
2015–2020 Melbourne Victory 71 (2)
2016–2017 → Jong PSV (loan) 5 (0)
2020–2021 Urawa Red Diamonds 21 (1)
2022– Albirex Niigata 29 (0)
International career‡
2015–2016 Australia U20 10 (0)
2016–2021 Australia U23 15 (1)
2018 Australia 2 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Australia
AFC U-23 Asian Cup
Third place2020 ThailandU-23 Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:23, 20 September 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 29 October 2022

Personal life

Deng was born into a family of South Sudanese refugees in Nairobi, Kenya. He and his family were fleeing the conflict in South Sudan, eventually settling in Adelaide, South Australia,[6] in 2003, when Deng was six years old.[7]

Deng has four older siblings as well as a half-brother who lives in Uganda.[8] His older brother, Peter Deng, has represented South Sudan at senior level.[9]

Club career

Deng's first club, along with his good friend and fellow refugee and Socceroo Awer Mabil, was the Adelaide Blue Eagles.[7]

After the family had moved to Melbourne in 2011,[7] 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.[10][11] The following season, the youngster moved to nearby Green Gully SC, 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 in 2014.[6]

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 against Balmain Tigers in the 2015 FFA Cup. He made his A-League debut on 9 October 2015 against Adelaide United, as a substitute replacing Fahid Ben Khalfallah after a red card was shown to Leigh Broxham. 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.[12][13] After making five appearances, he returned to Melbourne Victory at the end of the season.[14]

In January 2020, Deng left Melbourne Victory to join Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds following his performance at the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship.[15]

International career

He was part of the main squad of the Olyroos 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.

A South Sudanese national at birth, he is eligible to play for Australia and South Sudan.

In October 2018, Deng was named in the Socceroos squad for their training camp in the UAE and their friendly against Kuwait. In the friendly he made his debut, together with fellow South Sudanese refugee and boyhood friend Awer Mabil.[16]

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 in Tokyo, also winning the Player of the Match award.[17][18]

He was included in the Australian squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup but did not play.

Honours

Melbourne Victory

Albirex Niigata

References
  1. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™: List of Players: Australia" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  2. "T. Deng". Soccerway. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  3. "Thomas Deng". Melbourne Victory FC. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  4. "Meet the youth team players named in MVFC's A-League squad". Melbourne Victory FC. Archived from the original on 10 March 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  5. Windon, Jacob (May 2019). "NAB Young Footballer of the Year nominee – Thomas Deng (Melbourne Victory)". Melbourne Victory FC. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  6. Kulas, Damir. "The rise and rise of Thomas Deng". The Corner Flag. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  7. "Thomas Deng". Perth African Nations Sports Association. 19 September 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  8. Davutovic, David. "Victory star Thomas Deng revisits fork in the road on visit to youth justice centre". Herald Sun. News Corp. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  9. "Peter Deng's journey to South Sudanese debut – The Corner Flag". cornerflag.com.au. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  10. "Deng on how he made it to Olyroos level".
  11. John Punshon "http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/States/VIC/2013SD4WR.html"
  12. "PSV huurt Australische verdediger Deng (19)" (in Dutch). PSV Eindhoven. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  13. "Thomas Deng joins PSV Eindhoven on loan". Melbourne Victory. 28 June 2016. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  14. Tito, Clement (15 May 2017). "Deng could strengthen Victory's defence..." FourFourTwo. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  15. Lynch, Michael (28 January 2020). "Deng quits Victory to join J-League giants Urawa". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  16. "'A dream come true': refugees Deng and Mabil make Socceroos debuts together". The Guardian. 16 October 2018.
  17. "'Olympics 2021: All the Olyroos action from Tokyo; match report'". The Australian. 23 July 2021.
  18. "'From South Sudan to starring in Sapporo: Skipper Thomas Deng's inspirational journey'". Socceroos. 24 July 2021.
  19. "'At that point it was a difficult year for me': Deng's tough journey between Australia caps". Socceroos. 28 October 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.

Further reading
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