SYDNEY • They were just two goals in a football friendly in Australia. But like their scorer, Usain Bolt, their impact was akin to a lightning bolt striking the pitch during a match.
Despite the headlines, the jury is still out on whether the Jamaican sprint king, owner of eight Olympic gold medals, can make a successful transition to professional football.
For a start, his coach at Australian A-League club Central Coast Mariners, Mike Mulvey, feels that Bolt, who scored twice in Friday's 4-0 win over Macarthur South West, still has a long way to go.
"I'm very, very happy for him," Mulvey told the Sydney Morning Herald. "The bottom line is, Usain Bolt was a world-class athlete and is probably the greatest athlete who's ever lived, in my humble opinion.
"But he's been retired from athletics for 12 months, and he hadn't done much in that 12 months. We have an athlete who was going to train as a football player, and learn football fitness.
"We said 12 months to start with, and I think that we're all in agreement, we'll look at about January. But we can see improvement."
Following his retirement after the World Championships last year, the 32-year-old Jamaican has been training in an effort to make a professional football debut.
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Crossover athletes
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MICHAEL JORDAN (BASKETBALL AND BASEBALL)
The former Chicago Bulls star switched to baseball in 1994, signing a deal with the Chicago White Sox and played 127 games for their minor league affiliate Birmingham Barons. He returned to the Bulls in 1995.
SONNY BILL WILLIAMS (RUGBY AND BOXING)
The New Zealander was part of the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cup-winning sides. He also boxed professionally seven times and won all his heavyweight bouts.
BO JACKSON (BASEBALL AND AMERICAN FOOTBALL)
He became the first athlete to make All-Star teams in two major North American sports before he suffered a career-ending injury in 1991.
ESTER LEDECKA (SNOWBOARDING AND ALPINE SKIING)
The Czech snowboarder won the parallel giant slalom and was a shock winner in the super-G in Pyeongchang this year - the first athlete to win two golds in two disciplines at the Winter Olympics.
The Manchester United fan has had stints with German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, Norwegian top-flight team Stromsgodset and South African club Sundowns, before he started training with the Mariners in August.
Before Friday, he also featured in a 20-minute cameo in a 6-1 win over amateur side Central Coast Select.
"All I can do is do what I wanted to do - prove myself," he said. "They've seen what I'm capable of, how I am training, they need to analyse and determine if I'm good enough for the club."
Besides receiving a standing ovation when he was substituted in the 75th minute, Bolt also earned the praise of former United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who tweeted: "Great movement and finish!"
Twitter account @FootyHumour also made a joke about how Bolt has now one more goal than United forward Alexis Sanchez this season.
However, former Australia goalkeeper Mark Bosnich said Bolt still needs a lot of improvement.
"Slight improvement if you want to say that but his touch is still very poor," Bosnich, a Fox Sports commentator, said during the match.
"His speed endurance is a little bit better but he still looked tired after 15-20 minutes. He just looks a little bit sharper, not a great deal to be honest. There's a slight improvement but not very much."
The Mariners' next game is an A-League match next Sunday. It is unclear when Bolt will play next.
WASHINGTON POST, REUTERS
