Ndiaye, Globetrotters-Style Moves and Sobering Football Statistics

YOU’RE TELLING US THERE’S A CHANCE?

Unless you’ve missed the video of Iliman Ndiaye executing a unusual dribbling move at Everton’s training ground, you should check it out. By pulling off a move so spectacular that it would have suited perfectly at a Harlem Globetrotters friendly display, the skill immediately shut down what was meant to be a lighthearted kickabout to wrap up what had been – up to that point – an informative discussion about how Sunday league footballers can earn a second chance after being let go from professional academies.

Ndiaye, who competed in amateur leagues directly before being recruited by Sheffield United at 19, is perfectly positioned to speak on this topic. “Don’t focus on the rejection and one day your luck is going to materialize,” he advised a young player shortly before deploying said ninja move on his victim, in doing so vividly showing the gulf between Premier League and amateur footballers he had been working to minimize.

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 smouldering Neville Southall is clearly the benchmark 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 merciless tricks, although it’s thought that the latter was at least driven by the Japanese player’s social media disgrace caption – “this frustration makes a person stronger” – and the associated label of #friendship.

Kagawa’s previous Borussia partners Lukasz Piszczek, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Nuri Sahin at least had the good grace to lose their match against 100 children when the group competed during the half-time break of their last appearance for BVB. A Real Madrid XI that contained Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso showed less mercy when they faced 109 Chinese kids in a like situation. But returning to the beginning, it’s estimated that only 180 of the 1.5 million boys currently playing competitive youth leagues in England will ever appear in the Premier League, a harsh truth for young players across the country.

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