Did you know that Brisbane Roar’s Cyrus Dehmie, who once played for the Tarragindi Tigers, turned down an offer to play for Liberia at an international event because he was aiming to one day represent Australia?
Dehmie, who played junior football for Tarragindi Tigers and Rochedale Rovers, turned down an offer to play for Liberia in October 2021. Then only 19 years old, he reportedly declined the offer because he was looking to play for the Australian national team in the future.
The talented striker first attracted major attention when he signed a contract with the Brisbane Roar in May 2021, becoming one of the 34 African-Australian players to play in the A-league that season. In October of that same year, he scored a second-half hat trick during a round-of-16 match against the Lions FC at the FFA Cup, a game that they won 4-0.
A hat-trick for Cyrus Dehmie 🎩🎩🎩
The first of many goals to come…
🎥: @10footballau #FFACup #MagicOfTheCup pic.twitter.com/EU4XwCvZqT
— Australia Cup (@AustraliaCup) October 25, 2021
Cyrus was born on the Ivory Coast. He and his family settled in Brisbane after they arrived in Australia back in 2010 as a refugee.
As with most refugees, the family faced several challenges. Luckily for Cyrus, his junior clubs Rochedale Rovers and Tarragindi Tigers offered him opportunities to play which greatly helped the family financially.
He also won a high school scholarship to Anglican Church Grammar School where he met Brisbane Roar coach Warren Moon. And in 2019, under Coach Moon’s guidance, Cyrus scored the winning goal for the First XI team’s very first GPS Premiership trophy since the competition began in 1991.
In recent years, there have been quite a number of players of African descent who have shown up for the Socceroos including Awer Mabil, Thomas Deng, Garang Kuol, Jason Geria and Ruon Tongyik, who also turned down a South Sudan offer to play for the Australian squad instead.