Source: AFP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nGoodwin was Tour\u00e9’s captain at Adelaide United, where the youngster put his name in the spotlight in February 2020 by becoming the youngest goalscorer in the men’s A-League – scoring the back of the net before his 16th birthday.<\/p>\n
Born in Guinea to Liberian refugee parents, it has been a remarkable journey to grace the stage of one of football\u2019s most hallowed grounds.<\/p>\n
Speaking today, Tour\u00e9 said he would never have dreamed of making his debut for the Socceroos – let alone at Wembley.<\/p>\n
He says with a laugh: \u201cI don\u2019t think I would have imagined making my debut, period!\u201d But at Wembley it’s even more special. I would never have thought that.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cIt was an incredible feeling, it was one of those sensations that you can\u2019t really describe. Making my debut in Australia, it could have been at any stadium and it would have felt special, but to have it at Wembley as well was even better. It was like a surreal experience.<\/p>\n
These days, Tour\u00e9 is learning his trade and fighting to play for Paris FC in the French second division, on loan from Ligue 1 club Reims. So when he got the call from Socceroos coach Graham Arnold it came as a shock.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a little surprised, you know. It was unexpected because I didn’t really play football. It just shows that the coach believes in me and knows I have something,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Arnold is not the only one who believes in the child.<\/p>\n
Speaking about the moments before his debut, Tour\u00e9 said: “As I was about to come on, he (Goodwin) got up from the bench and he came towards me, he made me a hug and wished me luck.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt meant a lot to me because it wasn\u2019t a normal thing to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the match he just told me congratulations and to continue. I really appreciate that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Craig Goodwin of Australia in action during the international friendly match between England and Australia at Wembley Stadium on October 13, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Tom Dulat\/Getty Images)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIt’s clear that Tour\u00e9 and Goodwin have a special bond, dating back to their days on the pitch with the Reds. But Toure, who grew up in South Australia, admitted today he admired Adelaide’s all-time leading goalscorer long before they played together.<\/p>\n
Tour\u00e9 said: \u201cYou know, I’ve known Goody for so long, before he even knew who I was! At United, growing up, I watched those players.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we became teammates and I was very close to him because he\u2019s someone I admire. In training, I watched what he did on and off the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cI became close to him and would ask him for advice. I think he looked like, \u201cHere\u2019s my little brother now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe looks up to me and he knows I look up to him, so he tried to be the best example he could be for me. He just takes care of me on and off the field and he always talks to me.<\/p>\n
It may have been just a cameo off the bench against England, but Toure showed flashes of his prodigious talent.<\/p>\n
As for Goodwin, he is most convinced that there is much more to come from his Socceroos ‘little brother’.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s someone with enormous potential,\u201d Goodwin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s someone who I think could be the Socceroos striker for the next 10 years. If he can be here, learn and grow from this, then go back, gain confidence and start producing massively at club level, I think that’s just the beginning for Mo.<\/p>\n
The Australian Socceroos take on New Zealand from 5:45am AEDT on Wednesday October 18.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Australia vs New Zealand match preview, start time, Mohamed Toure Craig Goodwin relationship, latest\u060c LONDON \u2014 In the final minutes of Australia’s 1-0 loss to England on Sunday morning, Socceroos veteran Craig Goodwin did something special; and not on the ground. The 31-year-old made a sensational change against the world’s fourth-ranked team and was taking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[144,1059,1060,464,1203,2099,42,1100,37,814,2100,1007],"class_list":["post-1720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-sports","tag-australia","tag-craig","tag-goodwin","tag-latest","tag-match","tag-mohamed","tag-preview","tag-relationship","tag-start","tag-time","tag-toure","tag-zealand"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1720"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1722,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1720\/revisions\/1722"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}