Ndiaye, Harlem Globetrotters-Style Skills and Sobering Football Statistics

YOU’RE TELLING US THERE’S A CHANCE?

Should you have overlooked the clip of Iliman Ndiaye pulling off a reverse bouncing nutmeg at Everton’s training ground, it’s worth viewing. By pulling off a move so nasty that it would have been appropriate at a Harlem Globetrotters exhibition match, the skill instantly ended what was meant to be a informal game to finish what had been – up to that point – an illuminating interview about how non-professionals can earn a second chance after being let go from professional academies.

Ndiaye, who featured in non-league games directly before being recruited by Sheffield United at 19, is expertly placed to discuss this topic. “Avoid dwelling on the rejection and one day your luck is going to arrive,” he informed a young player shortly before using said ninja move on his victim, in doing so clearly demonstrating 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. Peak Michael Owen gleefully humiliating a young shot-stopper in front of a annoyed Neville Southall is undoubtedly the prime example in this particular niche – but the one-time Reds forward is not alone in this. Both Christian Eriksen and Shinji Kagawa have reduced toddlers to actual tears with a series of brutal nutmegs, although it’s considered that the latter was at least driven by the Japanese player’s social media regretful message – “this frustration makes a person stronger” – and the associated label of #friendship.

Kagawa’s former Dortmund teammates Lukasz Piszczek, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Nuri Sahin at least had the manners to lose their match against 100 children when the three lined up 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 took on 109 Chinese kids in a like situation. But back to the start, it’s calculated that only 180 of the 1.5 million boys currently playing structured junior soccer in England will ever feature in the Premier League, a sobering statistic for toddlers and teenagers across the country.

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FEATURED STATEMENT

“Football took me but it never deserted me because I never abandoned my dream. I went from team to team. The passion for soccer drives you. I couldn’t always see where it was leading me. But today I have the answer” – Serbia coach Veljko Paunovic takes time out from his planning to share his career.

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