The retired star is now inspiring the next generation of soccer players through literature.

Thompson and author Adrian Beck met with young fans at Strath Village Newsagency on Tuesday to talk about their new children’s book – Soccerufus and The Big Debut.

“The message in the book is the most important thing,’’ Thompson said.

“Kids need to know that they can achieve anything they want to achieve if they work hard. At the same time they need to have fun while doing it.

“That’s what I’ve always been an advocate for. You’ve got to get kids to dream big.”

Beck, who has previously written children’s books with AFL great Shane Crawford, said Thompson’s real-life story inspired the Soccerufus story.

“Archie fell out of love with soccer and didn’t get the bug back until he saw Harry Kewell on TV signing to play with a big club,’’ Beck said.

“Archie, who was working in a Chinese restaurant at the time, and Harry had been neck and neck as juniors and that inspired Archie to get back into it.

“He gave it everything to get back into soccer and ended up playing with the Socceroos.

“This book is a bit like that. Rufus wasn’t playing soccer, but he got the bug, found it fun and had to work hard just to make it to the team.

“It’s a story of his journey, but it’s not super serious. We have some cartoons in there and some tips from Archie. We wanted to keep it fun.”