Soccer’s Rising Stars
Written By Lazar Micevski
Although only teenagers, these young players are already making a name for themselves on the soccer scene.
Alexandre Pato (A.C. Milan)
The soccer world is being dominated by the start teenage striker Alexandre Pato has made to life in Serie A and he has also recently been called for Brazil’s Senior National Team.
“He understands the game and finds gaps. I never liked standing still, and I can see that he doesn't like it either”, says Chelsea striker and ex-AC Milan star Andriy Shevchenko.
Pato was forced to leave AC Milan’s match against Fiorentina over the weekend through injury, but not before scoring a winning goal that took his tally to 4 goals in 6 games since making his belated debut for the European champions after the end of the winter break.
He scored his first AC Milan goal in his Serie A debut against S.S.C. Napoli in a 5-2 home victory on January 13, 2008.
Pato has featured 5 games as a starter and has given Carlo Ancelotti new solutions given the injury problems of Ronaldo and Inzaghi and the up and down form of Alberto Gilardino.
A.C. Milan officially confirmed the signing of Pato on August 2, 2007. The transfer fee paid amounts to the minimum fee clause in Pato’s contract with SC Internacional at just over $32 million.
The 18 year old Brazilian became the biggest newsmaker during the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada in 2007 where he scored 3 goals in 4 games and it was no wonder that Chelsea, AC Milan, Real Madrid and Inter Milan all expressed interest at the time.
But Pato is not the only young star on the rise.
There is already talk in Italy about who is the greater prospect, Pato or “Super Mario” Balotelli.
“It is difficult to make comparisons. Pato is faster and more creative. He has excellent ball control and moves around more in attack than Balotelli who is a genuine ‘prima punta’ (first touch striker), says Italy’s World Cup winning coach Marcello Lippi.
Mario Balotelli Barwuah (F.C. Internazionale Milano)
17-year-old Balotelli scored twice to help F.C. Internazionale through to the Italian Cup semifinals in a 3-2 win at Juventus.
The youngster has four goals in the competition, having netted a brace against Reggina in the previous round and coach Roberto Mancini admits that his rising star has a great future ahead if he keeps his feet on the ground.
Before signing for Inter rumours linked him to several European clubs such as Fiorentina, Manchester United and FC Barcelona and he even had a trial with Barca in the summer of 2006. However, he opted for Internazionale, who signed him to a 3-year deal, the maximum allowed for a youth player, on August 31 2006.
On December 16. 2007, Balotelli made his first team debut replacing David Suazo in a Serie A match against Cagliari, won 2-0 by Inter.
Although born in Palermo, Mario Balotelli Barwuah, son of immigrants from Ghana, does not have Italian citizenship and must wait until he turns 18 to apply for a citizenship in order to be part of the Italian National team.
One of the biggest clubs in Europe, FC Barcelona, has it’s own young stars in Mexico’s attacking midfielder Giovani Dos Santos and Spanish forward Bojan Krkic.
Giovani dos Santos Ramirez (F.C. Barcelona)
Although mostly coming off the bench, 18-year-old dos Santos has had 23 games in all competitions in a team that includes superstars such as Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o and Thierry Henry. His play has made him a recent target of many English clubs including Chelsea and Manchester United.
As part of the Mexico’s U-20 team during the World Cup dos Santos scored 3 goals and tormented defenders with his skills and vision. That, and his form at Barcelona has earned him a place in Mexico’s senior team.
Bojan Krkic Perez (F.C. Barcelona)
Another youngster at Barca is 17–year-old forward Bojan Krkic Perez, who has made his way through the ranks of the Barca Academy teams.
In 2007, he became the youngest Barca player ever to make his debut in the Champions League and the youngest player ever to score a league goal for Barca..
He has had 28 appearances in the 2007-2008 season in all competitions so far, scoring 5 goals.
Sergio “Kun” Aguero (Atletico de Madrid)
Another talent playing in Spain is Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero, who at the age of 19 has already established himself as a top player at Atletico Madrid scoring 11 goals in 26 games this season.
Aguero, arrived at the Vincente Calderon in 2006 having previously spent three years at Indipendiente, where he debuted as a 15-year-old in 2003, breaking Diego Maradona’s record as the youngest player ever to play in the Argentinian top division.
Aguero won the Golden Ball as the best player of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada in 2007 scoring 6 goals and leading Argentina to the gold.
Related links:
The Champions League and its Champions>>
The Biggest Earners in soccer >>
The History of The European Soccer Championship>>
