"Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover": South Sudan's U20 Keeper Turns Heads With His Mature Look

“Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover”: South Sudan’s U20 Keeper Turns Heads With His Mature Look

South Sudan’s U20 Keeper Turns Heads with His Mature Look [Image: CAF Online]

At times, looks do matter, right?

South Sudan’s U20 football team’s goalkeeper is turning heads online with his mature look at the ongoing U-20 Africa Cup of Nations.

The TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations kicked off on 19 February and will run until 11 March 2023. Egypt hosts the youth tournament, with 12 teams participating, namely Egypt, Tunisia, Benin, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia, Gambia, Central African Republic, Congo, Uganda, South Sudan and Mozambique.

On Thursday, 23 February, South Sudan played the central African Republic in a match they won 1-0. However, it was not the match that struck people’s attention.

It was South Sudan’s 18-year-old goalkeeper Godwill Yogusuk Simon Sabio.

Sabio might be 18, but his face has left people wondering how old he really is. The goalie has wrinkles and facial features that made viewers and online users assume he is way older, and the South Sudanese team found a way around the system.

Sports Brief reported that even pundits kept complaining that his looks were off.

African teams have previously courted ire for fielding older players in international youth competitions.

In January, TSN Sports reported that Chad was booted out of the Under-17 AFCON qualifiers after Confederation of African Football (CAF) officials scanned the squad using Magnetic Resonance Imaging [MRI] to guard against fielding overage players. Cameroon had to scout for new players while Congo pulled out.

Social media users had much to say about South Sudan’s U20 keeper’s mature look.

@AYINNU:

“I’m 18 too.”

@thatweirdguy419:

“You sure say this MAN never born 12 kids

”

@t_u_k_a_z:

“Ndoyainzi Aging like fine wine yacho here

”

yours_aspas10:

“Mwana muhombe iyeye ndatopedza soo

”

@tokinigeorge:

“You meant 81 years old

”

@sir_obafoluke:

“That bro has seven kids, 1000 cows and 17 acres of land. Stop playing.”

@mr_ca_t:

“I’m sure they meant he has been playing as a goalkeeper for 18 years

”