Garang Kuol stands at the beginning of a path only a handful of Australian footballers have trodden.
A $520,000 move to Newcastle United last month has stamped the 18-year-old as one of the most exciting talents to hail from his country since Harry Kewell. Like Kewell's move to Leeds all those years ago, Kuol has been backed by a Premier League club with lofty ambitions to sit at the top of the food chain.
But the journey to this point has been far from a smooth ride for Kuol. In fact, in a world where 'wonderkids' are tracked and nurtured from an early age, this is a young man whose story stands in stark contrast to his contemporaries.