Usain Bolt scored his first two goals in professional soccer for his Australian League team, the Central Coast Mariners, on Friday night.
Bolt made his first start with the club in a preseason friendly against Macarthur South West United, a team that is not in the A-League, the top division in Australia. He played center forward and wore No. 95.
The 32-year-old Jamaican found the net in the 57th and 68th minutes of a 4-0 win. He celebrated the first goal with his “To Di World” pose and the second one with a Fortnite dance.
“My first proper game with the first team. I’m just happy that I got a chance, and I’m proud of myself,” he said on Fox Sports Australia after being subbed out in the 75th minute. “I’m here to prove to the world, as I said, that I can be a footballer.”
Bolt had said the match, his third, would determine his future after he first joined the club on an indefinite trial in hopes of getting a contract.
“After this game is where we can talk because the season’s coming up,” Bolt said Friday, looking to the Oct. 21 regular season opener.
Bolt was asked by a Brazilian reporter if he should now be called “Bolt, the soccer player.”
“Until I sign, I’m not saying that. I guess we’ll sit down, discuss with the club if we want to move forward,” Bolt said. “Until then, I’m still just normal Usain.”
Mariners coach Mike Mulvey said last month that he would wait until January before assessing the progress of Bolt.
“I watch football, so I understand the movement, but the simple things like locking my ankles, getting into space, pulling defenders away … I’ve been improving quickly,” Bolt said Friday. “My position is much better. I’m doing much more in space. I’m running in space much better. I think controlling the ball, seeing the field, having better vision are my two poorest areas, have improved a lot.”
Bolt saw his first action for the Mariners on Aug. 31, playing 20 minutes against a Central Coast selection side. He played the entire second half against the North Shore Mariners on Sept. 19, when he again alternated between left wing and striker.
Mulvey said last month that Bolt was progressing.
“In the initial dispatches talked about he needed time, I said at the time we will give him 12 months if need be,” Mulvey said. “But I think a reasonable assumption would be around about Christmas time, January, we should be really judging on whether he’s really improved or not improved. He’s slowly getting there.”
The eight-time Olympic champion Bolt has long harbored dreams of playing pro soccer.
Since retiring in summer 2017, he has trained alongside club teams in South Africa, Jamaica and Norway, plus had a much-publicized visit with Borussia Dortmund in March. Bolt and Dortmund share an apparel sponsor in Puma.
Bolt said he turned down offers from teams in France and Spain, but not in the top division. He prefers Australia, where he doesn’t have to learn a language. His long-time dream has been to play for Manchester United. Bolt said Friday the only person in top-level world soccer he has talked significantly to about this, his second career, has been Manchester United coach José Mourinho.
“The [Mariners] coach has explained to me that there won’t be any special treatment,” Bolt said as his Mariners trial began in August. “They will treat me just like a footballer should be treated. … I don’t want to be treated like I’m the world’s fastest man.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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