VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Czech football club welcomes Australian player with kangaroo riffs

Sparta Praha welcomed winger Awer Mabil this week with a musical marsupial tweet.

Expats.cz Staff

Written by Expats.cz Staff Published on 06.01.2023 15:47:00 (updated on 06.01.2023) Reading time: 1 minute

Czechia’s most successful football club, Sparta Praha, tweeted a GIF of a kangaroo pretending to play the guitar to welcome an Australian footballer to the club. The video was deemed "bizarre" by Britain's Mail Online which featured it in a headline this week.

Awer Mabil, who represents the Australian national team and plays as a winger, earlier this week joined Sparta Praha, where he will play until the end of the season.

The club, which has won the Czech First League 12 times, can now boast signing someone who played in the most recent World Cup, in Qatar. 

Kangaroos outnumber humans in Australia – there are about 42.7 million of the animals in the country, compared with about 26 million people. 

Two kangaroos feature on the Australian football team crest, and the animal is heavily associated with Australia. The “boxing kangaroo” is a national symbol of Australia.

"Awer is an offensive winger, a hard-working player who can go over opposing players in one-on-one situations. He is a team player with a winning mentality,” tweeted the club Wednesday. 

The club currently sits third in the Czech First League, behind leaders Pilsen and arch-rivals Slavia Praha. One of their most famous achievements was winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1973 and reaching the semifinals of the European Cup (today known as the Champions League) in 1992.

Sparta Prague will hope that their new player will help the team hop to victory.

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