Iliman Ndiaye, Globetrotters-Style Moves and Sobering Football Stats

YOU’RE TELLING US THERE’S A CHANCE?

Should you have overlooked the footage of Iliman Ndiaye performing a unusual dribbling move at Everton’s training ground, it’s a good watch. Through performing a move so impressive that it would have fit right in at a Harlem Globetrotters friendly display, the skill quickly concluded 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 get another opportunity after being released by professional academies.

Ndiaye, who played Sunday League football directly before being picked up by Sheffield United at 19, is ideally suited 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 deploying said spectacular skill on his victim, 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. A younger Michael Owen happily embarrassing a teenage keeper in front of a fuming Neville Southall is obviously the gold standard in this particular niche – but the former Liverpool man is just one of many culprits. Both Christian Eriksen and Shinji Kagawa have caused kids to weep 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 related tag of #friendship.

Kagawa’s ex-BVB colleagues Lukasz Piszczek, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Nuri Sahin at least had the decency to suffer a loss against 100 children when the trio competed during the interval of their final match for BVB. A Real Madrid XI that included Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso were not so generous when they faced 109 Chinese kids in a similar experiment. But coming full circle, it’s estimated that only 180 of the 1.5 million boys currently playing structured junior soccer in England will ever play in the Premier League, a stark reality for aspiring footballers across the country.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Soccer carried me but it never left me because I never gave up on my goal. I went from location to location. The devotion to the game carries you. I couldn’t always see where it was leading me. But today I have the solution” – national team manager Veljko Paunovic takes time out from his planning to discuss his path.

READER CORRESPONDENCE

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“As a daily reader and Florida resident, can I preemptively object about the coming period of published letters about which route one uses to get to various locations in your homeland? 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 whole story. There’s no rewarding moral to the tale. (I-4 joins 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.

“Regarding Wythenshawe FC, I remember many years ago playing for a Sunday, very social side, Turnpike Lane Hibs, on Clapham Common. One morning a bloke introduced as ‘Danny’ turned up to play. I have no idea who invited him. Reportedly he was an actor; he had a good left side. (Yes, Daniel Day-Lewis)” – Jason Steger.

“Together with some co-workers and mates, I play a game of football each Friday afternoon. Our most senior member is pushing 80, while the least experienced are in their late-20s. To ensure a positive atmosphere for everyone, we have a basic guideline regarding the quality of player: you can be quick or talented, but preferably not simultaneously. We sometimes have players who break this guideline, but usually succeed in bringing them to our standard over time” – Lars Esbjerg.