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YOU’RE TELLING US THERE’S A CHANCE?

If you haven’t seen the clip of Iliman Ndiaye executing a reverse bouncing nutmeg at Everton’s training ground, you should check it out. Through performing a move so impressive that it would have been appropriate at a Harlem Globetrotters friendly display, the skill instantly ended what was meant to be a informal game to finish what had been – up to that point – an revealing conversation about how amateur players can get another opportunity after being let go from professional academies.

Ndiaye, who competed in amateur leagues directly before being recruited by Sheffield United at 19, is expertly placed to address this topic. “Don’t concentrate on the rejection and one day your luck is going to arrive,” he advised a young player shortly before deploying said impressive trick on his teammate, in doing so clearly demonstrating the difference between Premier League and amateur footballers he had been working to minimize.

Ndiaye isn’t the first professional footballer to take things that little bit too far. A younger Michael Owen gleefully humiliating a teenage keeper in front of a annoyed Neville Southall is clearly the benchmark in this particular niche – but the former Liverpool man is not alone in this. Both Christian Eriksen and Shinji Kagawa have reduced toddlers to actual tears with a series of harsh skills, although it’s believed that the latter was at least inspired by the Japanese player’s social media disgrace caption – “setbacks build character” – and the associated label of #friendship.

Kagawa’s ex-BVB colleagues Lukasz Piszczek, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Nuri Sahin at least had the good grace to lose their match against 100 children when the trio played during the half-time break of their last appearance for BVB. A Real Madrid XI that included Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso were more competitive when they took on 109 Chinese kids in a comparable scenario. But back to the start, it’s estimated that only 180 of the 1.5 million boys currently playing competitive youth leagues in England will ever appear in the Premier League, a sobering statistic for young players across the country.

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Join Scott Murray from 19:45 Greenwich Mean Time for hot Geopolitics World Cup qualifying coverage of England versus Serbia, while Luke McLaughlin will be on clockwatch duty for the other games happening later.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Soccer carried me but it never deserted me because I never abandoned my dream. I went from place to place. The love of football drives you. I couldn’t always see where it was directing me. But today I have the understanding” – Serbia coach Veljko Paunovic takes time out from his preparations to reflect on his career.

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“Pleasant to learn that Kevin Mac Allister will be included by Argentina. Ideally, if he travels to the Bigliest Most Peaceful Cup next year, he’ll study how to navigate the venue locations – hopefully he won’t get confused in New York” – James Humphries.

“Reports indicate that 1,024 players in the Turkish league have been banned due to potential connection in a wagering issue. It would be wonderful if that number could be raised to the same level of usual detail-orientation associated with Football Daily – that is, 1,057 readers. By my calculation, that’s about 33 more perfectionists. If I volunteer to be banned from playing professionally in Turkey (hardly a difficult decision at my age and, um, talent), are there 32 more folks willing to participate in my quest for symmetry?” – Mike Wilner.

“As a frequent consumer and Florida resident, can I preemptively object about the next several days of published letters about which road one uses to get to various locations in your country? I mean, I was caught in a traffic jam 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 joins Tampa on the Gulf Coast to Daytona on the Atlantic via Orlando/Walt Disney World, and can have delays at any time)” – Rasteen Nowroozi.

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