Usain Bolt has ruffled a few feathers in the Australian football community after bizarrely blaming his failed football stint on the quality of football Down Under.
His comments to Soccer Aid where he claimed the ‘level of football’ in Australia wasn’t good and that he ‘should have stayed in Europe’ certainly got under the skin of beloved Aussie football journalist Lucy Zelic.
Replying to a video of Bolt’s comments, she said: “What’s wonderful about this, is that even though ‘the level in Australia wasn’t good’, Bolt STILL couldn’t secure a professional contract here or in Europe, or..anywhere. Looking forward to the album though.”
Funnily enough, Zelic, who is the sister of former Socceroo Ned Zelic, was never really the biggest fan of Bolt, even when he was looking to sign for the Central Coast Mariners back in 2017.
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In fact, she claimed she would shave her own head if he topped then Melbourne Victory player Keisuke Honda on the goal charts.
Speaking on a live stream for The World Game she said: “If Usain Bolt starts in the A-League in a professional game and by the end of the season scores more goals than Keisuke Honda, an absolute legend of the game, I will shave my head.
“If that happens I will actually physically shave my head.”
Thankfully for Lucy, Bolt never actually appeared in an official capacity for the Mariners, with his stint at the Gosford club short-lived.
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Bolt made two pre-season appearances for the Mariners but left the club after they only offered $150,000 for a one-season deal - with Bolt wanting $3 million.
So perhaps Lucy has the Mariners' financial department to thank for still having a full head of hair.
As for Bolt’s comments, they seem a bit disingenuous considering he never actually made it happen as a professional footballer.
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He told Soccer Aid: “I think I made a mistake at the start.
“When I retired from track and field, I didn’t want to stay in Europe because the media was going to be all over it. So I went to Australia, but the level of football there wasn’t good. I should have stayed in Europe.
“After a year of trials I just said, you know what, let’s just move on from that. So I moved on.”
football career struggled to take off.
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“For sure (I’ll stick with it),” Bolt said back in 2018.
“We’ll see what happens. I think people are still contacting my agent now about opportunities, so we’ll see in which direction it goes.
“For me, I’ve learned that I still have it. I figure that I was improving a lot, so as you can see from the first game to the last game, I really improved and did better. I’ve learned that it’s a little bit harder, but it’s all about dedication and work with the team.”
Now at the age of 35, it's clear the world's fastest human has had some time to reflect and he's laying the blame squarely on the lap of Australia.
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We’re glad Lucy won that bet.
Topics: Usain Bolt, Football, A League, Australia
Jayden Collins