Iliman Ndiaye, Globetrotters-Level Skills and Sobering Soccer Stats

IS THERE REALLY A POSSIBILITY?

Should you have overlooked the footage of Iliman Ndiaye performing a backwards bouncing trick at Everton’s training ground, it’s a good watch. Through performing a move so spectacular that it would have been appropriate at a Harlem Globetrotters friendly display, the skill instantly ended what was meant to be a casual practice to wrap up what had been – up to that point – an informative discussion about how non-professionals can earn a second chance after being released by professional academies.

Ndiaye, who competed in amateur leagues directly before being recruited by Sheffield United at 19, is expertly placed to discuss this topic. “Don’t concentrate on the rejection and one day your luck is going to materialize,” he informed a young player immediately prior to using said impressive trick on his opponent, in doing so clearly demonstrating the gap between Premier League and amateur footballers he had been trying to bridge.

Ndiaye joins a list of professional footballer to go slightly overboard. Prime Michael Owen cheerfully overwhelming a 13-year-old goalkeeper in front of a smouldering Neville Southall is obviously the gold standard in this unique area – but the former Liverpool man is far from the only offender. Both Christian Eriksen and Shinji Kagawa have made young children cry with a series of brutal nutmegs, although it’s believed that the latter was at least motivated by the Japanese player’s social media regretful message – “setbacks build character” – and the related tag of #friendship.

Kagawa’s ex-BVB colleagues Lukasz Piszczek, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Nuri Sahin at least had the decency to lose their match against 100 children when the group competed during the mid-game pause of their farewell game 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 similar experiment. But returning to the beginning, it’s estimated that only 180 of the 1.5 million boys currently playing competitive youth leagues in England will ever play in the Premier League, a harsh truth for young players across the country.

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FEATURED STATEMENT

“The game guided me but it never abandoned me because I never abandoned my dream. I went from location to location. The love of football propels you. I couldn’t always see where it was taking me. But today I have the solution” – national team manager Veljko Paunovic makes time from his planning to share his career.

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