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COULD IT ACTUALLY HAPPEN?

Unless you’ve missed the video of Iliman Ndiaye performing a unusual dribbling move at Everton’s training ground, it’s worth viewing. By pulling off a move so nasty that it would have fit right in at a Harlem Globetrotters show game, the skill immediately shut down what was meant to be a casual practice to finish what had been – up to that point – an illuminating interview about how amateur players can get another opportunity after being dropped from professional academies.

Ndiaye, who featured in non-league games directly before being recruited by Sheffield United at 19, is ideally suited to discuss this topic. “Don’t concentrate on the rejection and one day your luck is going to come through,” he advised a young player immediately prior to executing said ninja move on his teammate, in doing so vividly showing the difference between Premier League and amateur footballers he had been trying to bridge.

Ndiaye joins a list of professional footballer to go slightly overboard. A younger Michael Owen cheerfully overwhelming a teenage keeper in front of a smouldering Neville Southall is clearly the benchmark in this specific category – but the ex-Anfield star is far from the only offender. Both Christian Eriksen and Shinji Kagawa have made young children cry with a series of merciless tricks, although it’s thought that the latter was at least inspired by the Japanese player’s social media disgrace caption – “this frustration makes a person stronger” – and the accompanying hashtag of #friendship.

Kagawa’s ex-BVB colleagues Lukasz Piszczek, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Nuri Sahin at least had the decency to be defeated against 100 children when the three played during the interval of their farewell game for BVB. A Real Madrid XI that featured Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso were more competitive when they faced 109 Chinese kids in a similar experiment. But returning to the beginning, it’s calculated that only 180 of the 1.5 million boys currently playing organized youth football 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 19:45 Greenwich Mean Time for hot Geopolitics World Cup qualifying coverage of England versus Serbia, while Luke McLaughlin will be on clockwatch duty for the remaining evening matches.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Soccer carried me but it never deserted me because I never stopped believing. I went from place to place. The love of football drives you. I couldn’t always see where it was leading me. But today I have the answer” – head coach Veljko Paunovic takes time out from his preparations to share his path.

FAN FEEDBACK

“Nice to hear that Kevin Mac Allister won’t be excluded by Argentina. Hopefully, if he participates in the major tournament next year, he’ll study how to navigate the venue locations – hopefully he won’t get confused in New York” – James Humphries.

“Sources state that 1,024 players in the Turkish league have been banned due to potential connection in a gambling controversy. It would be fantastic if that number could be bumped up 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 offer to be suspended from playing professionally in Turkey (not a huge sacrifice at my age and, um, skill level), are there 32 more folks willing to join in my search for balance?” – Mike Wilner.

“As a regular follower and Florida resident, can I in advance protest about the coming period of published letters about which highway 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 entire tale. 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 congestion problems at any time)” – Rasteen Nowroozi.

“Regarding Wythenshawe FC, I recollect many years ago playing for a Sunday, very recreational club, Turnpike Lane Hibs, on Clapham Common. One morning a bloke presented as ‘Danny’ turned up to play. I have no idea who invited him. Supposedly 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 oldest player is approaching eighty, while the youngest are in their young adulthood. To ensure a good time for everyone, we have a straightforward principle regarding the quality of player: you can be fast or skilled, but ideally not both. We sometimes have players who break this guideline, but usually succeed in bringing them to our standard over time” – Lars Esbjerg.