Iliman Ndiaye, Globetrotters-Style Skills and Sobering Football Statistics

IS THERE REALLY A POSSIBILITY?

Unless you’ve missed the clip of Iliman Ndiaye pulling off a unusual dribbling move at Everton’s training ground, it’s a good watch. In executing a move so nasty that it would have fit right in at a Harlem Globetrotters exhibition match, the skill quickly concluded what was meant to be a casual practice to wrap up what had been – up to that point – an revealing conversation about how amateur players can earn a second chance after being released by professional academies.

Ndiaye, who competed in amateur leagues directly before being picked up by Sheffield United at 19, is ideally suited to address this topic. “Don’t focus on the rejection and one day your luck is going to come through,” he told a young player just before deploying said ninja move on his opponent, in doing so vividly showing the gulf between Premier League and amateur footballers he had been attempting to dispel.

Ndiaye isn’t the first professional footballer to push the boundaries. A younger Michael Owen cheerfully overwhelming a 13-year-old goalkeeper in front of a annoyed Neville Southall is obviously the gold standard in this specific category – but the former Liverpool man is just one of many culprits. Both Christian Eriksen and Shinji Kagawa have caused kids to weep with a series of harsh skills, although it’s considered 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 good grace to be defeated against 100 children when the three played during the half-time break of their final match for BVB. A Real Madrid XI that contained Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso showed less mercy when they played against 109 Chinese kids in a comparable scenario. But coming full circle, it’s calculated that only 180 of the 1.5 million boys currently playing competitive youth leagues in England will ever appear in the Premier League, a harsh truth for young players across the country.

STREAMING ON POPULAR SITE

Tune in with Scott Murray from 19:45 Greenwich Mean Time for live international football action of England versus Serbia, while Luke McLaughlin will be on clockwatch duty for the remaining evening matches.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The game guided me but it never deserted me because I never abandoned my dream. I went from location to location. The passion for soccer drives you. I couldn’t always see where it was leading me. But today I have the answer” – Serbia coach Veljko Paunovic pauses briefly from his preparations to reflect on his path.

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