Osimhen, Neymar, Others in FIFA Cast of U17 Graduates
Super Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen, and 15 other football stars were selected by world football governing body, FIFA, from the list of graduates of its Under-17 World Cup tournaments in the last two decades in a special publication on its website yesterday.
Osimhen (2015) was joined by the likes of Gianluigi Buffon (1991), Ronaldinho (1997), Cesc Fabregas (2003), Neymar (2009), Mario Gotze (2009), Casemiro (2009), Toni Kronos (2007), Heung-min Son (2009), Alisson Becker (2009), Marc-Andre ter Stegen(2009) Marquinhos (2011), Trent Alexander-Arnold (2015), Phil Foden (2017), Aurelian Tchouameni (2017) and Pedri (2019) in this special cadet stars hall of fame.
Interestingly, the bulk of the stars with fairytale career runs were those who participated in the 2009 edition hosted by Nigeria but Golden Eaglets failed to win it as host, beaten 1-0 by Switzerland in the final in Abuja.
The U-17 global finals served as platforms for these former starlets enroute to enjoying storied careers at the very top of the game.
In its selection, FIFA takes a look at a selection of current superstars who took their first steps on the world stage at the prestigious tournament.
In the case of Nigeria forward, FIFA recalled that Osimhen notched a record-setting 10 goals in 2015 as Nigeria romped to an unmatched fifth crown in Chile. He would enjoyed stints with Wolfsburg, Charleroi and Lille, before helping Napoli to a historic league title as the division's top scorer in 2023.
Aside that FIFA also noted that in 2022/23, Osimhen's 26 goals cast into achieve Samuel Eto'o's record of goals by an African player in a single Serie A season. The Nigerian also surpassed George Weah's feat as the highest-scoring African to play in the division.
Brazil's forward, Neymar Jnr, who hit his mark at the the 2009 edition hosted in Nigeria, netted the first of his A Seleção goals during the competition. He couldn't prevent a first U-17 group-stage exit in more than 20 years for Brazil. He has since gone on to play for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, while winning an Olympic gold medal.
A petition to get Neymar in Brazil's squad for the 2010 World Cup received some 14,000 signatures, but coach Dunga decided against picking the teenage sensation.
Elsewhere at the 2009 edition, Mario Gotze netted three times, but was unable to prevent a last16 exit for Germany to eventual champions Switzerland. He would make his Bundesliga debut shortly after returning from the tournament and the rest, as they say, is history.
Gotze would go on to score the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final as a substitute – the first player to ever do so – while becoming the youngest showpiece scorer since Wolfgang Weber in 1966.
Completing a trio of A Seleção stars from the 2009 tournament is midfield enforcer, Casemiro, who featured in two of Brazil's three group-stage games. He went on to enjoy a legendary spell with Real Madrid, winning five UEFA Champions League and three FIFA Club World Cups in the process, before moving to Manchester United.
*Continued thisdaylive.com