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YOU’RE TELLING US THERE’S A CHANCE?

Should you have overlooked the video of Iliman Ndiaye performing a unusual dribbling move at Everton’s training ground, you should check it out. Through performing a move so nasty that it would have been appropriate at a Harlem Globetrotters exhibition match, the skill immediately shut down what was meant to be a lighthearted kickabout to wrap up what had been – up to that point – an informative discussion about how non-professionals can secure a fresh start after being let go from professional academies.

Ndiaye, who played Sunday League football directly before being picked up by Sheffield United at 19, is ideally suited to speak on this topic. “Don’t concentrate on the rejection and one day your luck is going to come through,” he advised a young player shortly before using said spectacular skill on his victim, in doing so clearly demonstrating the gulf between Premier League and amateur footballers he had been working to minimize.

Ndiaye isn’t the first professional footballer to push the boundaries. Prime Michael Owen happily embarrassing a young shot-stopper in front of a annoyed Neville Southall is undoubtedly the prime example in this unique area – but the ex-Anfield star is just one of many culprits. Both Christian Eriksen and Shinji Kagawa have reduced toddlers to actual tears with a series of merciless tricks, although it’s believed that the latter was at least inspired by the Japanese player’s social media apologetic post – “difficulty breeds resilience” – and the accompanying hashtag of #friendship.

Kagawa’s former Dortmund teammates Lukasz Piszczek, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Nuri Sahin at least had the decency to be defeated against 100 children when the group competed during the half-time break of their final match for BVB. A Real Madrid XI that included Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso were not so generous when they took on 109 Chinese kids in a like situation. But coming full circle, it’s calculated that only 180 of the 1.5 million boys currently playing structured junior soccer in England will ever appear in the Premier League, a stark reality for aspiring footballers across the country.

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FEATURED STATEMENT

“Soccer carried me but it never left me because I never abandoned my dream. I went from team to team. The devotion to the game carries you. I couldn’t always see where it was directing me. But today I have the solution” – national team manager Veljko Paunovic pauses briefly from his training to reflect on his journey.

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