Born in Egypt,to parents who fled war-torn Sudan,Kuol and his family settled in Shepparton,a two-hour drive north of Melbourne,when they arrived in Australia as refugees. He is one of seven siblings,all boys - and four of them are either current or aspiring professional footballers. Alou,21,is a former Mariners starnow at German Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart,while Teng,19,a midfielder in the mould of Patrick Vieira,and Didi,11 — another tricky winger who Garang rates as better than he was at the same age — are also in Central Coast’s academy system.

“Everyone has their own hunger to be the best in their age group,” says Alou. “Every time we step on the field,it’s just that hunger to do the best you can. Back in the day,we used to play our older cousins,older kids would join in,no matter the age - we could just tell who’s good enough to continue playing and who’s not.”

Were it not for the introduction of an NPL team in Shepparton,the Goulburn Valley Suns,in 2014,it’s possible the Kuols would have risen no higher than local football,and slipped through the cracks of the professional system. And were it not for the good grace of the local community,they definitely would have.

The Kuols,like so many families like them,simply couldn’t afford the exorbitant fees associated with NPL football. “$1600 for the four of us,” Garang recalls. “Crazy. It shouldn’t be like that.”

So the GV Suns,having quickly noted their freakish ability and the importance of honing it,would either waive the charges,or allow father Mawien and mother Antonita,who ran a dry cleaning business in Shepparton,to wash the club’s kits in lieu of payment.

“That was their way of contributing,” says Craig Carley,a former GV Suns player who also coached their under-14s when Alou first joined.

“It wasn’t just them as well - they would go to their church group and there’d be other young African players. While everyone else was in church,they’d be out the back playing football. They would just always be with a ball at their feet. It almost reminds me of the European mentality,with their desire to always be out,constantly learning and just have fun,basically.”

Still,Carley recalls having a hard time trying to get professional talent scouts to come out and have a look at them. The three Melbourne-based A-League clubs all took a look at Alou and passed,with Melbourne Victory deeming him to be “too raw”. Their loss has been Montgomery and the Mariners’ gain,having brought in a family that may yet have a profound impact on the Socceroos and the broader Australian game.

“We put a scouting system in place where I’ve got a lot of contacts,who send kids of potential,” Montgomery says.

“You don’t sign a kid who’s a finished product. We look for potential,and then a lot of hard work goes into them. When we first brought[Garang] in,he was 16,he didn’t understand the game. Didn’t understand football tactically. He was just this free spirit,playing at lower levels - going past three or four players and scoring was just normal for him.

“His game lacked a lot of the defensive teamwork. That’s something that he’s learning now. You have to be the complete player to play at the top level. We’ve been harsh on him at times,and we’ve seen him grow. He’s still got a lot of growing to do. The main thing is just be humble,keep your feet on the ground and understand that without hard work and dedication,he won’t be where he is.”

There’s a lot of hours on the pitch and in the gym ahead for Garang,who knows he needs to build out his wiry frame and learn how to become a regular starter who can run out full matches - and then back up repeatedly - to cut it in the A-League,let alone the highest level.

“Monty and[assistant coach Sergio Raimundo] have been saying I just need to work on my body,become like a machine.” Kuol says. “In this modern day and age,players are machines. They can play 120 minutes with no issues and play two days later. That’s the difference between world-class players and all others. I’ve got to get myself in shape to that extent,and just work on everything.”

The motivation is there. His trip to Newcastle,and his week with the Socceroos,a teamhe idolised as a child,was a tantalising taste of what’s possible. “When I left,I was sort of gutted because I was like,‘that ended very quick.’ I just wanted to be there for a while,” he says of his brief national team camp experience.

“I’m always grateful for what comes my way. What comes in the future,I’ll have to deal with that myself. I can’t really get carried away with anything that’s happening at the moment. And I’m very hard on myself to perform. I know when I’m performing or not performing. That’s what I’m mainly focused on - train well,play well,and hopefully make it to the World Cup.”

Watch every match of theUEFA Champions League,UEFA Europa League andUEFA Europa Conference League on Stan Sport. Continues with Matchday 4 from Wednesday,October 12.