Mouad Zwed's family in Libya often relocates from their home in Tripoli to avoid civil war conflicts, but this week the Canberra university student will have to put all that aside to prepare for the biggest game of his life.
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When Tuggeranong United takes on the A-League line-up from Melbourne Victory on Tuesday night, Zwed's focus will be on the game, but the 22-year-old footballer will often try to keep in contact with his family to check they're safe.
"I keep in contact to see that they're OK, but electricity is not always available in Libya right now. Internet is the main issue," Zwed said.
In the three years since Libyan rebels and NATO airstrikes overturned the regime of Zwed's distant relative Muammar Gaddafi, fighting between militia has plunged the country into civil war and seen Tripoli fall to Islamists.
Currently on a bridging visa and in the process of getting his student visa, Zwed, who was raised in Libya, moved to Australia in 2008 to study IT at the University of Canberra.
"I'll stay here till the end of the year when I finish university," he said. "I'm working on getting a job or continuing studies. My last option would be going back to Libya."
Last month, when fighting broke out in Tripoli near Zwed's family home, his parents, Omran and Souad Zwed, were forced to temporarily relocate with their two daughters and son to relatives living in a different city.
"They were just throwing bombs randomly. You never know - even if you're in the right place it can be at the wrong time and then you're still in danger," Zwed said.
With Zwed's younger brother just a baby, he is concerned about the rival sides battling for control of different parts of the country. "It's really not safe at the moment," he says.
For Zwed's parents to come back to Australia, it would involve a two or three month process to obtain a visa before preparing to cross the border by car so they can fly from a neighbouring country, due to the destruction of the main airport in Libya.
"The Misrata side is destroying airports, schools and hospitals in Tripoli, so they can tell people Misrata is heaven, and should be the capital of Libya. It's evil what they're doing," Zwed said.
When asked about his parents missing the upcoming David versus Goliath battle against Melbourne Victory, he said he wished they were here.
"I told them it's fine, it's fine. I would rather have them here watching the biggest game of my life against one of the best A-league sides - it would have been great, but you can't do anything about it."
