Usain bolt opens up on his personal battle to make it as a professional footballer

Usain Bolt has opened up on his battle to make it as a professional footballer after netting twice for Central Coast Mariners on Friday.

Previously an all-conquering sprinter, avid football fan Bolt is currently on trial at the Australian A-League club as he bids to earn a full-time deal.

Bolt's double in the trial match against Macarthur South West United on Friday has no doubt strengthened his cause, but with his future still uncertain, the 32-year-old is determined to do everything he can to turn his footballing dream into a reality.

'It's something I've always wanted to do,' he told Stellar Magazine. 'I said to myself, "If I can get the opportunity to do it, then do it". Because for me that's a challenge – and when I get a challenge, it re-energises me. I don't know where I'm going to go so I really can't set a goal for myself until this first year [is over].

'After this first year I can say, "I feel I can do better if I can train harder or work more on my skills". Or I can say, "This is not going to work". This season is just a test, fail or pass.

'I'm just here to do my best, to learn as much as possible and try to improve as quickly as possible to get to a level. It's my personal challenge.'

'I've always wanted to live in Australia. I come here every year for a vacation and we chill out. People are really nice to me and there aren't any crazy fans. There are a lot of fans here, but they're polite. It's similar to Jamaica. I feel slightly normal.'

Bolt, the current 100m and 200m men's world-record holder, decided to call time on his hugely successful career in athletics in August 2017.

And, in explaining his decision, the Jamaican revealed he had simply fallen out of love with the sport.

'Towards the end, I didn't enjoy it like I did when I was starting out and winning my first gold and second gold,' he added. 'I knew that if I had to do [the Olympics] for a fourth time, I wouldn't have got there because I would wake up in the morning and decide I didn't want to go to training.

'There were times at the end where I'd ask myself, when I'm lying on the ground dying, like, 'Why am I still doing this?' When I started questioning myself like that, I knew, this is it. I need to stop.'

-Dailymail