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Toulon Tournament: Match 4: Brazil-Guatemala
It’s no secret that on paper, Brazil are the strongest team in the 2019 edition of the Toulon Tournament. While Portugal and France’s young starlets are still trying to get regular minutes at their clubs, the majority of Brazil’s U-22 team has already established an impressive reputation at the senior level. This team is so…
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Toulon Tournament: Match 3: France-Qatar
If you had tuned into this match without having any prior background information, you’d have thought that the French side were the 22-year-olds on the cusp of their prime, while the Qatari side were the precocious teenagers making their way up from academy-level football. In fact, it was the opposite. Despite being five years their…
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Toulon Tournament: Match 2: Portugal-Chile
In a far more even-handed affair than the opening match, Portugal and Chile contested for all three points during the second match of the first day of the Toulon Tournament. Chile scored early with a lovely header from Mathías Pinto, and they held onto the lead to preserve a 1-0 victory. Perhaps the two most hyped…
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Toulon Tournament: Match 1: England-Japan
With England winning the past three editions of the Toulon Tournament, the premier U-22 tournament in football, you’d be forgiven for thinking they could muster the pressure of Japan on opening day. Think again. While England went ahead 1-0 early on through a swooping header by England captain Trevor Chalobah, Japan, the better side from…
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Eddie Nketiah: Arsenal’s next big thing?
After a string of dismal performances in the league, Arsenal finally showed up in their last match of the campaign at Burnley. The Gunners won the match 3-1, thanks to their Gabonese striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who scored a brace and become the first player since Robin van Persie to bring the Premier League Golden Boot…
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Scouting Report: Bruno Guimarães
Bruno Guimarães, a 21-year old carioca who currently plays for Athletico Paranaense, has been linked with Chelsea this month for a reported fee of £34 million. Chelsea are struggling in the Premier League and could use some new faces in midfield, but could Guimarães be the answer to their woes? South Americans are always a…
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U17 Sudamericano Team of the Tournament
With the 2019 South American U-17 Championship wrapping up last week, Brian Bertie gives his team of the tournament. GK: Massimo Sandi – Peru Massimo Sandi in net was a no brainer. Lukas Gonzalez from Uruguay is an honourable mention, but Sandi was the reason Peru were able to stay alive for so long after a…
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Analyzing João Félix’s performance against Eintracht Frankfurt
Predicting the success of a teenager is not easy. There are several factors to keep in mind, and it’s more than just evaluating talent and individual quality. From the opportunities given to the way a young footballer adapts to the professional level, there are so many dependent variables that determine a player’s success. For the past six…
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Emi Buendía: The £1.5m playmaker driving Norwich to the Premier League
Norwich City are heading for the Premier League. They are sitting pretty at the top of the Championship, with a five-point lead over third-place Leeds United, and much of their progress owes to intelligent recruitment in the transfer market. Several players have burst onto the scene at Carrow Road this season, but few have epitomised…
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Joachim Andersen: Sampdoria’s Answer to Milan Škriniar
Finding undiscovered talents is something that football’s smaller clubs have to do to survive. While the giants of the sport can spend lavishly on the best players in the world, those with much smaller budgets need to be shrewder in their recruiting. Italian side Sampdoria is one of those clubs, and the Doriani have…
