Ndiaye, Globetrotters-Level Moves and Revealing Football Statistics

IS THERE REALLY A POSSIBILITY?

Unless you’ve missed the clip of Iliman Ndiaye executing a backwards bouncing trick at Everton’s training ground, you should check it out. By pulling off a move so spectacular that it would have fit right in at a Harlem Globetrotters exhibition match, the skill immediately shut down what was meant to be a casual practice to wrap up what had been – up to that point – an illuminating interview about how Sunday league footballers can secure a fresh start after being released by professional academies.

Ndiaye, who featured in non-league games directly before being recruited by Sheffield United at 19, is expertly placed to address this topic. “Don’t focus on the rejection and one day your luck is going to materialize,” he advised a young player immediately prior to deploying said impressive trick on his victim, in doing so clearly demonstrating the difference between Premier League and amateur footballers he had been attempting to dispel.

Ndiaye joins a list of professional footballer to push the boundaries. A younger Michael Owen cheerfully overwhelming a 13-year-old goalkeeper in front of a smouldering Neville Southall is clearly the benchmark in this particular niche – but the one-time Reds forward is far from the only offender. 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 motivated by the Japanese player’s social media apologetic post – “setbacks build character” – and the associated label of #friendship.

Kagawa’s previous Borussia partners Lukasz Piszczek, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Nuri Sahin at least had the decency to lose their match against 100 children when the trio competed during the interval of their last appearance for BVB. A Real Madrid XI that contained Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso were not so generous when they faced 109 Chinese kids in a like situation. 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 feature in the Premier League, a harsh truth for aspiring footballers across the country.

BROADCAST ON MAJOR PLATFORM

Follow Scott Murray from 19:45 Greenwich Mean Time for real-time tournament updates of England versus Serbia, while Luke McLaughlin will be on clockwatch duty for the rest of the night’s action.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Soccer carried me but it never deserted me because I never stopped believing. I went from place to place. The love of football 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 planning to share his path.

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