Iliman Ndiaye, Harlem Globetrotters-Style Skills and Sobering Soccer Stats
IS THERE REALLY A POSSIBILITY?
If you haven’t seen the clip of Iliman Ndiaye executing a backwards bouncing trick at Everton’s training ground, you should check it out. Through performing a move so nasty that it would have suited perfectly at a Harlem Globetrotters exhibition match, the skill quickly concluded what was meant to be a informal game to wrap up what had been – up to that point – an informative discussion about how non-professionals can earn a second chance after being let go from professional academies.
Ndiaye, who played Sunday League football directly before being signed by Sheffield United at 19, is expertly placed to speak on this topic. “Avoid dwelling on the rejection and one day your luck is going to arrive,” he advised a young player immediately prior to executing said spectacular skill on his victim, in doing so vividly showing the difference between Premier League and amateur footballers he had been attempting to dispel.
Ndiaye joins a list of professional footballer to take things that little bit too far. A younger Michael Owen cheerfully overwhelming a teenage keeper in front of a fuming Neville Southall is clearly the benchmark in this unique area – 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 brutal nutmegs, although it’s thought that the latter was at least driven by the Japanese player’s social media apologetic post – “this frustration makes a person stronger” – and the related tag of #friendship.
Kagawa’s former Dortmund teammates Lukasz Piszczek, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Nuri Sahin at least had the manners to suffer a loss against 100 children when the three lined up during the interval of their farewell game for BVB. A Real Madrid XI that included Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso showed less mercy when they took on 109 Chinese kids in a comparable scenario. But coming full circle, it’s estimated that only 180 of the 1.5 million boys currently playing structured junior soccer in England will ever appear in the Premier League, a sobering statistic for aspiring footballers across the country.
BROADCAST ON MAJOR PLATFORM
Join Scott Murray from 19:45 Greenwich Mean Time for real-time tournament updates of England versus Serbia, while Luke McLaughlin will be tracking events for the other games happening later.
DAILY HIGHLIGHT
“Football took me but it never abandoned me because I never abandoned my dream. I went from team to team. The devotion to the game propels you. I couldn’t always see where it was directing me. But today I have the answer” – head coach Veljko Paunovic makes time from his training to reflect on his path.
READER CORRESPONDENCE
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“As a daily reader and Florida resident, can I proactively complain about the next several days of published letters about which highway one uses to get to various locations in your homeland? I mean, I was delayed in congestion on I-4 at 2am on a Tuesday night driving through Orlando once, but that’s the complete account. There’s no meaningful conclusion to the tale. (I-4 connects Tampa on the Gulf Coast to Daytona on the Atlantic via Orlando/Walt Disney World, and can have traffic issues at any time)” – Rasteen Nowroozi.
“Concerning Wythenshawe FC, I recall many years ago playing for a Sunday, very casual team, Turnpike Lane Hibs, on Clapham Common. One morning a bloke introduced as ‘Danny’ turned up to play. I have no idea who recruited him. Apparently he was an actor; he had a useful left foot. (Yes, Daniel Day-Lewis)” – Jason Steger.
“Together with some colleagues and friends, I play a game of football each Friday afternoon. Our most experienced participant is approaching eighty, while the least experienced are in their twenties. To ensure a good time for everyone, we have a straightforward principle regarding the quality of player: you can be fast or skilled, but ideally not both. We periodically have players who disregard this principle, but usually typically reduce them to our quality over time” – Lars Esbjerg.