Iliman Ndiaye, Harlem Globetrotters-Style Skills and Revealing Football Stats

IS THERE REALLY A POSSIBILITY?

Unless you’ve missed the video of Iliman Ndiaye executing a backwards bouncing trick at Everton’s training ground, it’s a good watch. In executing a move so nasty that it would have fit right in at a Harlem Globetrotters friendly display, the skill instantly ended what was meant to be a casual practice to conclude what had been – up to that point – an informative discussion about how Sunday league footballers can secure a fresh start after being dropped from professional academies.

Ndiaye, who featured in non-league games directly before being signed by Sheffield United at 19, is ideally suited to discuss this topic. “Don’t focus on the rejection and one day your luck is going to materialize,” he advised a young player shortly before using said ninja move on his opponent, in doing so vividly showing the gap 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. Prime Michael Owen gleefully humiliating a young shot-stopper in front of a fuming Neville Southall is clearly the benchmark in this specific category – but the ex-Anfield star is not alone in this. Both Christian Eriksen and Shinji Kagawa have made young children cry with a series of brutal nutmegs, although it’s considered that the latter was at least inspired by the Japanese player’s social media regretful message – “difficulty breeds resilience” – and the related tag of #friendship.

Kagawa’s ex-BVB colleagues Lukasz Piszczek, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Nuri Sahin at least had the manners to be defeated against 100 children when the group lined up during the mid-game pause of their last appearance for BVB. A Real Madrid XI that featured 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 calculated that only 180 of the 1.5 million boys currently playing competitive youth leagues in England will ever play in the Premier League, a sobering statistic for toddlers and teenagers across the country.

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DAILY HIGHLIGHT

“Football took me but it never left me because I never stopped believing. I went from location to location. The passion for soccer carries you. I couldn’t always see where it was leading me. But today I have the solution” – Serbia coach Veljko Paunovic makes time from his training to reflect on his path.

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