Full name Garem Alwin Komolong Playing position 2010–2011 POMSOE FC Position Forward, Midfielder | Place of birth Lae, Papua New Guinea 2009–2010 VfR Eckernförde Height 1.81 m | |
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Date of birth (1994-11-02) 2 November 1994 (age 22) | ||
Alwin komolong 2011 2012 wonderkid for the future
Alwin Komolong (born 2 November 1994 in Lae) is a Papua New Guinean footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for the Papua New Guinea national football team.
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Personal
Komolong is of German and PNG parentage. He is the son of Birte and Miok Komolong. Some of his grandparents, cousins, and other family live in Hütten, Schleswig-Holstein. Komolong lived in Germany with his family for a year and a half beginning at age 14. He has two younger brothers, Kusunga and Felix. Felix is also a footballer and had a 3-week trial with Werder Bremen in 2014. Kusunga plays as a goalkeeper.
Youth and college
Komolong began playing football at age six while living in Brisbane, Australia before moving back to Papua New Guinea. At age 14, he played a year and a half for the youth sides of VfR Eckernförde of the Schleswig-Holstein Kreisliga, in his mother's home town of Eckernförde, while living with family in Germany. After returning to Papua New Guinea, he played for two years for local development team Port Moresby School of Excellence FC of the Port Moresby Soccer Association from 2010 to 2011. POMSOE FC was founded in 2010 and featured mostly players from the Papua New Guinea national under-17 team. In 2013, he was invited to participate in the FIFA Blue Stars World Youth Cup by Wynton Rufer who was working for the OFC at the time and would become head coach of the Papua New Guinea national team a year later. In addition to Komolong's team composed mainly of Oceania players, Manchester United, FC Basel, Borussia Dortmund, Torino FC, Zenit St. Petersburg, Grasshopper Club Zürich, Botafogo, and hosts FC Blue Stars competed in the tournament. This edition of the tournament was the first in which a team from Oceania had entered. Rufer heard about Komolong through people who had seen him play while in Auckland. Following his performances at the 2011 OFC U-17 Championship, he was offered a scholarship from Liston College in Auckland and finished his high school education there. Upon graduation in 2013, he secured a sports scholarship for the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in the United States. He was also offered a scholarship from Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. His decision to attend USAO stemmed from a desire to play in Major League Soccer. He played one year of college soccer for the Drovers, making 14 appearances while tallying two goals and two assists. The team finished the season ranked 11th overall in the NAIA. In 2014, Komolong transferred to NCAA Division I school Northern Kentucky University. He cited his reasons for transferring as wanting a better atmosphere on and off the field. Over his first two seasons with the team, he made 34 appearances. NKU head coach John Basalyga rested Komolong after he captained the Papua New Guinea national U23 team in Olympic Qualifiers in 2015 and took a temporary break from his studies to represent his country. In 2014, he participated with NKU in a two-day tournament hosted by the Dayton Flyers. Following the tournament, Komolong was named to the All-Tournament Team. Over his three seasons with the Norsemen, Komolong totaled 47 appearances while scoring one goal, a game-tying tally against the IUPUI Jaguars during October of his senior year.After being recruited as a forward by NKU, he played as a defender, midfielder, and forward over his time with the team.
Club career
While with Besta United PNG of the Papua New Guinea National Soccer League, Komolong won the league Golden Boot Award as top scorer in both 2011/12 and 2013. While attending Liston College in Auckland, Komolong played for Waitakere City FC of the NRFL, the second division of New Zealand football, in 2012. Although he was not listed as a new player prior to the start of the season, he made at least two appearances and scored at least one goal for the club. One goal came during a 1–6 defeat to Melville United, a team that featured New Zealand internationals Jesse Edge and Tyler Boyd. While with the club, he also ran youth coaching sessions before matches. He returned to Papua New Guinea for the 2014/15 season, signing for newly founded FC Port Moresby. The team finished league runners-up that season. In 2015 he left Port Moresby and joined Rapatona and, later, Madang Fox, also of the PNG top division. He served as captain during his first season as the team reached its first grand final, a 1–4 loss to Lae City Dwellers FC. His brother Felix joined him at the club the following season.
Komolong has also had offers to trial with professional clubs in Malaysia.
International career
Komolong represented Papua New Guinea at the U17, U20, and U23 levels. Komolong was named captain of the U17 teams for the 2011 OFC U-17 Championship. He was also captain for PNG during the 2013 OFC U-20 Championship. For the U23 team, he captained the side against club teams Sarawak FA, Real Mulia F.C., and Selangor FA of the Malaysia Super League in addition to other OFC sides. In July 2015, Komolong was named a hero by the press during the 2015 Pacific Games hosted in Papua New Guinea as he scored the stoppage-time winner off a header in a 2–1 victory over Fiji to win the bronze medal. The medal was the nation's first medal for football at the Pacific Games since 1987. Papua New Guinea U23 coach and former long-time coach of the senior New Zealand national football team Ricki Herbert said of the occasion, "This is huge for men’s football. It’s not just one game, it’s the start of a new era. We can really change football here and I’m so pleased. I think it has been 30 years since the team got into a medal play-off and the boys have been awesome." The tournament also doubled as the OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Komolong also served as tournament ambassador for Port Moresby 2015 and took a temporary leave from his university team and studies to represent his country. Komolong was invited to the senior team for the first time in 2015. At 19 years old he was at that time one of the youngest players ever to receive a senior call-up. In November 2015, it was announced that he was invited as part of Papua New Guinea's 29-man squad for the 2016 OFC Nations Cup, also hosted by Papua New Guinea, which also serves as qualification for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and the second round of qualification for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. In May 2016 he was officially named to Papua New Guinea's squad for the tournament, the only foreign-based player on the roster. He made his senior international debut on 29 May, playing the full 90 minutes of a 1–1 draw with New Caledonia in Papua New Guinea's opening match of the tournament. He played in all five matches of the tournament as Papua New Guinea won their group and earned the silver medal overall for the first time ever after being defeated by New Zealand by a score of 2–4 on penalties after playing to a scoreless draw during regulation time and extra time. At the tournament, Papua New Guinea head coach Flemming Serritslev put Komolong in charge of the defense.
Only days after the Nations Cup final, Komolong was injured in a 2–0 victory in a friendly against Malaysia. He was expected to be out six weeks with a torn ligament and returned to his former club Rapatona for rehabilitation and light training.
In January 2017 it was announced that Komolong was part of Papua New Guinea's initial 23-man squad for two 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Tahiti in March.