The outrageous goal form Portsmouth striker's tasked with bringing to Championship against Blackburn, Millwall & Co
He’s yet to hit the back of the net for Pompey in the Championship.
But Kusini Yengi is thriving for his national team amid a chaotic period for his country, as they aim to make it to the 2026 World Cup finals.
And now the challenge at club level for the Aussie hitman is to bring some outstanding goal form for the Socceroos to these shores.
Yengi was in the headlines once again last night, as he grabbed two goals for Tony Popovic’s side in a dramatic 2-2 draw against Bahrain.
The 25-year-old was returning to the starting line-up for the first time since his red card against the same opposition last September, for what was an X-rated challenge.
That proved to be Graham Arnold’s final game as manager after six years, on a night dubbed one of the most embarrassing in the team’s history.
Yengi was back in the starting line-up last night in Biffa and once again back in the headlines for the right reason, as he took his total to an outstanding six goals in as many games at international level.
The man who bagged 13 finishes last term did so in eye-catching fashion, as so often seems to be the former Western Sydney Wanderers man’s way.
It took just 38 seconds for Yengi to make the breakthrough, with his dramatic leveller coming six minutes into stoppage time, to put Australia in an automatic qualifying position for the first time.
In between, Yengi saw an effort smothered by Ebrahim Lutfallah and an outrageous chested shot cannon back off the post in the 61st minute.
The hope for John Mousinho is that can now flow into his Pompey form, with it being a stop-start season for the powerhouse after dealing with groin injuries.
There is now a clear run for Yengi to do that, with there no further international distractions until next March.
Speaking to the Socceroos’ YouTube channel, Yengi said: ‘Scoring goals is what I’m in the team to do
‘But winning games is what I ultimately want, these are Fifa World Cup qualifiers.
‘I want to be on that plane, I want to be in that squad and I want to help this country get to that next World Cup.
‘We missed out on an opportunity to get some points to take us closer to our goal.
‘I’m happy with the goals but there’s still a lot to improve and I wish we’d got the win.
‘In the short period of time I’ve been involved with the national team I’ve learned we have to put these games to bed, otherwise teams can sneak back into it.
‘It happens with club football as well.
‘It’s another game we need to take something from and when we come back in March we need to know that when we’re ahead we keep pushing on and finish those chance to put games to bed.’