FIFA U-17 World Cup: Stars of future line up for England

Jadon Sancho (extreme left) and Angel Gomez (extreme right). (Source: Express Photo by Partha Paul)

‘Little Angel’ alighted from the team bus. Phil Foden followed. Cross-town rivals in the Premier League but Mancunians-in-arms at Kolkata, where England would be playing their FIFA Under-17 World Cup group league matches. A posse of camera crew suddenly sprang to life at the Salt Lake SAI campus. Two of the biggest stars of the upcoming Fifa event were within ‘shooting range’ and Jadon Sancho of Borussia Dortmund followed shortly — the wonderkids of English football.
Spain have Abel Ruiz, Mateu Morey, Juan Miranda and Sergio Gomez — all from La Masia and Barcelona. At 16 years of age, Takefusa Kubo has earned the moniker, Japanese Messi. But Angel Gomes and Foden have played first team football for Manchester United and Manchester City respectively. Sancho is a winner of the Golden Player at the European Under-17 Championships, but we would come to him later.

Gomes was caught ball-watching as Jose Mourinho wanted to bring him on in place of Wayne Rooney during United’s Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace last term. The youngster was too riveted to action to notice his boss. Mourinho had to shout again and moments later history was made at Old Trafford, when Gomes became the youngest player since Duncan Edwards to make the first team debut for the club. “It’s a dream come true it’s what every 16-year-old dreams about. I have been here since the age of six, working my way up,” he told MUTV after the match.

A month later the attacking midfielder received a video message from his idol Ronaldinho that said: “Hi Angel, Ronaldinho speaking, sending you good luck and a hug. All the best, I am following your progress.” Even Cristiano Ronaldo was so impressed that Spanish weekly Don Balon reported that the superstar advised Real Madrid to bring Gomes to Bernabeu as his long-term successor.

Gomes’s Portuguese father Gil was also a footballer who played for Hendon. He wanted his son to make it big. The youngster joined United at the age of 13 and made his U-18 debut for the club at the age of 14. He won the Jimmy Murphy Youth Team Player of the Year award last season and also captained England U-17. United academy coach Nicky Butt has described Gomes’s talent as “ridiculous”, on a par with the Busby Babes and the Class of 92.

During pre-season, United and City squared up at Houston and Foden shone brightest on the pitch despite City’s 2-0 loss. Gary Neville was quick to comment that the youngster was “at the wrong Manchester club for getting a sustained opportunity”.

Pep Guardiola, the City manager, responded. “Which is the right club? It’s a question to Gary Neville. My history is there. I’m not going to put young players in the squad because they are young. They will be in the squad because they have quality. I don’t have problems with that,” he had said.

The teenager, however, is yet to get a game in the Premier League this term and Bernardo Silva’s £44 million arrival appears to be stumbling block for the young midfielder’s progress. But a good U-17 World Cup for England could be strong message to Guardiola in terms of fast-tracking the kid to the first team.

Sancho’s £8 million move from City to Borussia Dortmund during close season further attested the Manchester club’s poor record of blooding youth over the past nine-odd years. Borussia Dortmund, however, gave the 17-year-old Ousmane Dembele’s No. 7 shirt, as the latter made a £95 million switch to Barcelona. Sancho, a winger, is yet to get a game in Bundesliga this season but that his club has restricted his participation in the U-17 only to group stages confirms his importance.

“Around me, a lot of people were doing some bad things, but I didn’t want anything to do with that. After school, I always just wanted to play football,” the south London lad was quoted as saying by German tabloid Bild.

Gomes, Foden and Sancho — together they form the young trinity of English football.