Ata Inia (20), a rising soccer star in Cambodia, South East Asia, is Tonga’s first professional soccer player, according to The Khmer Times, a Phnom Penh media outlet.

Ata joined the Cambodian soccer side, the Angkor Tiger FC last season after playing for two years with the Melbourne Knights in Australia.

The Angkor Tiger FC finished 7^th in the Cambodian top flight last season, but according to the newspaper, Ata received encouragement from the Tonga Football Association: – “Congratulations AJ, we are so proud of your great achievement.”

Ata's father is Tongan with an Australian mother, and he was named after his grandfather. Ata is eager to be able to play for Tonga one day, according to Adelaide Tu’ivailala, the manager of Tonga Women's soccer team.

Adelaide said the Tonga Association Football is in touch with Ata who is an Australian national, but they are working for him to  become a dual national, so that he can play for Tonga one day.