United Media sat down with Ajak Riak to hear the story behind the player – from his early years in Kenya and growing up in Perth, to the family responsibilities, financial barriers and chance encounters that shaped his unconventional path into professional football.
For much of Riak’s childhood, the biggest barrier between him and football was not ability. It was access.
There were registration fees his family could not always afford, training grounds a long way from home and no simple way to get there. His mother was working and caring for a large family, while his father spent several years away from Australia.
Riak did not join his first football club until he was around 14. Even then, his opportunity arrived almost by accident. He was playing with friends beside a suburban football ground in Perth when a senior player from Beachboro Eagles noticed him and asked whether he played for a team.
Riak said no. He lived around the corner.
That conversation opened the first door in a journey that has since taken him across Australia, Africa, Asia and Europe – and eventually to Adelaide United.
Where it began
Riak is a proud South Sudanese Australian who spent the first four years of his life in Kenya before his family settled in Perth.
“I’m a South Sudanese Australian, so both of my parents are from South Sudan, and I was actually born in Kenya,” Riak said.
“I was born in Kakuma. Because of the war that happened, most of our people migrated to Kenya and were living in refugee camps.
Image: AJ with his brother, Alier at home in Perth in 2006
“I don’t remember too much about that, but I lived there for about four years before we came to Australia. We got a refugee or humanitarian visa to come here because we were living in a refugee camp, and we settled in Perth in January 2005.”
One of six children, Riak tried his hand at athletics, basketball and football at school, but organised sport was harder to access.
“I didn’t actually get to sign up with a team until around under-15s,” he said. “It was hard because I was living mostly with my mum. With the fees and having so many children, it was hard to get to training and those kinds of things.”
Life at home changed significantly when Riak’s father, a former army officer, returned to South Sudan.
“My dad had to leave to go back to Africa because civil war had started again,” Riak said.
“He was called back to go to South Sudan. He was gone for quite a while. I think he was gone for about six or seven years.
“He came back just before COVID, in 2020. From 2014 until 2020, I lived with my mum.”
With his father overseas and his mother carrying the demands of work and family life, Riak had to grow up quickly. He had three younger siblings looking up to him while he was still trying to find his own way.
“My mum was working, and with all the siblings, it was really hard to dedicate time after school to take one person to training,” he said. “It was almost impossible to get access.”
Those years shaped Riak long before football became his profession. He learned to be patient, take responsibility and make the most of every opportunity.
Finding a way
Riak’s first real opening came at Beachboro Eagles. He would watch the senior team train before playing with friends on the nearby pitch. One evening, a first-team player approached him outside the clubrooms.
“One of the first-team players asked me, ‘Do you play for this club?’” Riak said. “I said, ‘No, I just live around the corner.’
“He asked my age, and I told him I was 14. He said, ‘I’m actually coaching the under-15 team. You can come on these days, and we’ll see if we can get you signed up.’”
Image: AJ celebrating the 2016 NPLWA Championship with ECU Joondalup
Riak started at centre-back because of his height, but his instincts soon carried him further up the pitch.
“I wasn’t disciplined enough to be at the back because I liked to dribble the ball, run and score,” he said. “He ended up pushing me into midfield.”
After his family moved to Ellenbrook, Riak joined Ellenbrook United and captained his team to a championship. That season earned him an opportunity with ECU Football Club, now Perth RedStar, in the Western Australian NPL system.
For the first time, football began to feel like something he could seriously pursue. But his place at the club depended heavily on the support of one coach.
“I couldn’t afford to pay the fees,” Riak said. “I also wouldn’t have been able to get to training because the club was in Joondalup and I was living in Ellenbrook.
“The coach would pick me up from school and take me to training on his way back from work.”
When that coach left, Riak had to leave too. Instead of stopping, he moved to Bayswater City and continued through the Western Australian system before heading interstate to play for Bentleigh Greens and South Melbourne.
Image: AJ in action for South Melbourne
There was no academy guiding him and no clear pathway mapped out in front of him. He kept finding the next opportunity.
The turning point
Riak’s career took a significant step forward during the 2023 season with South Melbourne, when his performances earned him a call-up to represent South Sudan.
One week, he was playing NPL football in Australia. The next, he was starting an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo.
“I went from playing NPL one week, in front of a couple of thousand people, to my first game for South Sudan,” Riak said. “I started, we beat Congo 2-1, and I got an assist in the 95th minute for the winning goal. It was unreal.”
Image: AJ’s debut for South Sudan vs Congo Brazzaville in AFCON qualifiers 2023
For Riak and his family, the moment carried a significance beyond football. He had been born in Kenya and raised in Australia. Now, he was representing his family’s country on the international stage, with his mother and siblings watching from Perth.
“My mum and my family all watched from home,” he said. “It was live-streamed, so it was a really good feeling.”
The experience strengthened Riak’s belief that he belonged at that level.
“When I went there to play against big international teams and professional players, I thought to myself, ‘You’re here now. You know what you can do.’”
His performances for South Melbourne and South Sudan led to his first professional move with Indonesian club PSS Sleman. He later joined FC Sheriff Tiraspol, where he experienced European football and UEFA Europa League qualifying, before moving to Uzbekistan with OKMK.
Each destination brought a new country, culture, dressing room and way of playing.
“I have a lot of friends from different backgrounds around the world,” Riak said. “I’ve lived and had roommates from different corners of the earth.
Image: AJ in action for FC Sheriff Tiraspol
“On the pitch, I can also change my game to what is needed at the time and what will work best. In that way, it correlates well.”
That adaptability had been developing long before Riak became a professional. It was shaped by moving to Australia, growing up in a large family, taking on responsibility at home and continuing to pursue football when the easier option would have been to stop.
His journey has also given him perspective. Around the training ground, Riak is known for smiling, staying positive and sharing in the success of those around him.
“When you go through things in life, you build resilience,” he said. “You feel the blessing of being able to play football as your professional job.
“I’m always smiling. I’m always happy – happy for others and happy for myself – because I know that Ajak five years ago would never have thought he was going to become a professional player and go through all these experiences.”
Football has given Riak structure and something to chase.
“It has also brought out my personality in terms of my resilience and persistence,” he said. “I keep going at something until I get it. I don’t give up, and I don’t back down from anything.”
The next chapter
Riak returned to Perth following his time in Uzbekistan and began exploring the possibility of continuing his career in the A-League.
He met Head of Football Mitch van Gellekom and Head Coach Airton Andrioli when Adelaide travelled to face Perth Glory.
“They said, ‘You’re the kind of profile we’re looking for, and we’d love to have you in Adelaide,’” Riak said.
“The path to get here has been different, but if I had to go through it again, I wouldn’t change it. I’ve gained a lot of experience, been around different countries and seen football from a different perspective in every place I’ve gone.”
Riak’s first months in Adelaide were interrupted by small injuries, but his response has been consistent with the approach that carried him this far.
“I’m working hard now to come back,” he said. “I’m still here, I’m still pushing, and I’m looking forward to a big year ahead.”
