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COULD IT ACTUALLY HAPPEN?

Should you have overlooked the footage of Iliman Ndiaye pulling off a reverse bouncing nutmeg at Everton’s training ground, it’s worth viewing. By pulling off a move so impressive that it would have fit right in at a Harlem Globetrotters show game, the skill instantly ended what was meant to be a lighthearted kickabout to wrap up what had been – up to that point – an informative discussion about how amateur players can earn a second chance after being dropped from professional academies.

Ndiaye, who competed in amateur leagues directly before being picked up by Sheffield United at 19, is perfectly positioned to speak on this topic. “Don’t concentrate on the rejection and one day your luck is going to arrive,” he advised a young player shortly before using said impressive trick on his teammate, in doing so clearly demonstrating the gulf between Premier League and amateur footballers he had been working to minimize.

Ndiaye is far from the only professional footballer to push the boundaries. Peak Michael Owen gleefully humiliating a young shot-stopper in front of a smouldering Neville Southall is undoubtedly the prime example in this particular niche – but the former Liverpool man is just one of many culprits. Both Christian Eriksen and Shinji Kagawa have made young children cry with a series of brutal nutmegs, although it’s believed that the latter was at least driven by the Japanese player’s social media apologetic post – “difficulty breeds resilience” – and the accompanying hashtag of #friendship.

Kagawa’s ex-BVB colleagues Lukasz Piszczek, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Nuri Sahin at least had the manners to lose their match against 100 children when the group competed during the interval of their farewell game for BVB. A Real Madrid XI that featured Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso showed less mercy when they faced 109 Chinese kids in a comparable scenario. But returning to the beginning, 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 harsh truth for aspiring footballers across the country.

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Follow Scott Murray from evening UK time for live international football action of England versus Serbia, while Luke McLaughlin will be on clockwatch duty for the remaining evening matches.

DAILY HIGHLIGHT

“The game guided me but it never deserted me because I never stopped believing. I went from team to team. The devotion to the game drives you. I couldn’t always see where it was directing me. But today I have the answer” – national team manager Veljko Paunovic takes time out from his planning to discuss his career.

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“As a regular follower and Florida resident, can I preemptively object about the upcoming week-plus of published letters about which highway one uses to get to various locations in your country? I mean, I was delayed in congestion on I-4 at 2am on a Tuesday night driving through Orlando once, but that’s the entire tale. There’s no rewarding moral to the tale. (I-4 links 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.

“Regarding Wythenshawe FC, I recollect 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. Apparently he was an actor; he had a useful left foot. (Yes, Daniel Day-Lewis)” – Jason Steger.

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