Usain Bolt said that his performance in a trial game on Friday could determine his future with the Central Coast Mariners in Australia's A-League and his quest to play professional football.
The eight-time Olympic sprinting champion is expected to start for the Mariners against a Macarthur South West United team in western Sydney. United plays in a second-tier competition.
The Mariners begin the A-League regular season on 21 October in Brisbane against the Roar. Bolt, who holds the 100 and 200 metre world records, has retired from competitive track and field.
After being used as a winger in his first brief trial appearance in late August, Bolt hinted at a positional change for the match at Sydney's Campbelltown Stadium.
Coach Mike Mulvey "said he wants to play me up top more," Bolt said. "The couple of games that I played, I didn't play with the first team.”
The 32-year-old Jamaican track great said that he was pleased with his progress in football.
In late September, Mulvey said he could wait until January before making a final decision on Bolt's status with the team.
Bolt saw his first action for the Mariners on 31 August, playing 20 minutes against a Central Coast invitational side. He played the entire second half against the North Shore Mariners on 19 September, when he alternated between left wing and forward.
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