Iliman Ndiaye, Harlem Globetrotters-Style Moves and Sobering Football Stats

COULD IT ACTUALLY HAPPEN?

If you haven’t seen the footage of Iliman Ndiaye pulling off a unusual dribbling move at Everton’s training ground, it’s a good watch. By pulling off a move so impressive that it would have been appropriate at a Harlem Globetrotters show game, the skill instantly ended what was meant to be a informal game to finish what had been – up to that point – an informative discussion about how non-professionals can earn a second chance after being dropped from professional academies.

Ndiaye, who played Sunday League football directly before being picked up by Sheffield United at 19, is expertly placed to speak on this topic. “Don’t concentrate on the rejection and one day your luck is going to materialize,” he advised a young player shortly before deploying said spectacular skill on his teammate, in doing so vividly showing the difference 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 former Liverpool man is just one of many culprits. Both Christian Eriksen and Shinji Kagawa have caused kids to weep with a series of brutal nutmegs, although it’s thought that the latter was at least inspired by the Japanese player’s social media disgrace caption – “setbacks build character” – and the accompanying hashtag of #friendship.

Kagawa’s former Dortmund teammates Lukasz Piszczek, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Nuri Sahin at least had the good grace to suffer a loss against 100 children when the three competed during the interval of their last appearance for BVB. A Real Madrid XI that contained Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso showed less mercy when they played against 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 competitive youth leagues in England will ever play in the Premier League, a sobering statistic for young players across the country.

BROADCAST ON MAJOR PLATFORM

Join Scott Murray from 19:45 Greenwich Mean Time for live international football action of England versus Serbia, while Luke McLaughlin will be tracking events for the remaining evening matches.

DAILY HIGHLIGHT

“The game guided me but it never abandoned 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 taking me. But today I have the solution” – national team manager Veljko Paunovic makes time from his preparations to share his career.

FAN FEEDBACK

“Nice to hear that Kevin Mac Allister won’t be excluded by Argentina. Hopefully, if he participates in the Bigliest Most Peaceful Cup next year, he’ll study how to travel around the host cities – 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 alleged involvement in a wagering issue. It would be amazing if that number could be raised to the same level of usual detail-orientation associated with Football Daily – that is, 1,057 readers. By my math, that’s about 33 more perfectionists. If I agree to be excluded from playing professionally in Turkey (not much of a loss at my age and, um, talent), are there 32 more folks willing to assist my effort for symmetry?” – Mike Wilner.

“As a regular follower and Florida resident, can I proactively complain about the upcoming week-plus of published letters about which road one uses to get to various locations in your country? 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 satisfying lesson to the tale. (I-4 connects Tampa on the Gulf Coast to Daytona on the Atlantic via Orlando/Walt Disney World, and can have traffic issues at any time)” – Rasteen Nowroozi.

“Apropos Wythenshawe FC, I remember many years ago playing for a Sunday, very casual team, Turnpike Lane Hibs, on Clapham Common. One morning a bloke introduced 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 colleagues and friends, I play a game of football each Friday afternoon. Our most experienced participant is pushing 80, while the least experienced are in their twenties. To ensure a good time for everyone, we have a basic guideline regarding the ability standard: you can be speedy or technical, but ideally not both. We occasionally have players who violate this rule, but usually typically reduce them to our quality over time” – Lars Esbjerg.