🔗 Share this article

COULD IT ACTUALLY HAPPEN?

If you haven’t seen the clip of Iliman Ndiaye performing a backwards bouncing trick at Everton’s training ground, you should check it out. In executing a move so impressive that it would have suited perfectly at a Harlem Globetrotters show game, the skill immediately shut down what was meant to be a informal game to wrap up what had been – up to that point – an revealing conversation about how amateur players can secure a fresh start after being let go from professional academies.

Ndiaye, who featured in non-league games directly before being signed 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 come through,” he advised a young player immediately prior to using said ninja move on his opponent, in doing so perfectly illustrating the gap between Premier League and amateur footballers he had been trying to bridge.

Ndiaye isn’t the first professional footballer to push the boundaries. Peak Michael Owen gleefully humiliating a teenage keeper in front of a smouldering Neville Southall is clearly the benchmark in this specific category – but the ex-Anfield star is just one of many culprits. Both Christian Eriksen and Shinji Kagawa have reduced toddlers to actual tears with a series of harsh skills, although it’s considered 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 manners to lose their match against 100 children when the group competed during the half-time break of their farewell game for BVB. A Real Madrid XI that featured Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso showed less mercy when they faced 109 Chinese kids in a like situation. But coming full circle, it’s approximated that only 180 of the 1.5 million boys currently playing organized youth football in England will ever feature in the Premier League, a harsh truth for toddlers and teenagers across the country.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHT

“The game guided me but it never deserted me because I never abandoned my dream. I went from team to team. The devotion to the game carries you. I couldn’t always see where it was taking me. But today I have the solution” – national team manager Veljko Paunovic pauses briefly from his training to share his career.

READER CORRESPONDENCE

“Good to know that Kevin Mac Allister will be included by Argentina. Ideally, if he travels to the international competition next year, he’ll research how to travel around the venue locations – wouldn’t want him to end up lost in New York” – James Humphries.

“Sources state that 1,024 players in the Turkish league have been banned due to suspected participation in a betting scandal. It would be wonderful if that number could be increased to the same level of typical pedantry 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 daily reader and Florida resident, can I proactively complain about the next several days of published letters about which road one uses to get to various locations in your island nation? 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 entire tale. 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 congestion problems 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 known as ‘Danny’ turned up to play. I have no idea who brought him along. Apparently he was an actor; he had a good left side. (Yes, Daniel Day-Lewis)” – Jason Steger.

“Together with some associates and companions, I play a game of football each Friday afternoon. Our oldest player is nearing eight decades, while the youngest are in their late-20s. To ensure a good time for everyone, we have a basic guideline regarding the quality of player: you can be fast or skilled, but preferably not simultaneously. We occasionally have players who disregard this principle, but usually typically reduce them to our quality over time” – Lars Esbjerg.