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Scouting World Cup Stars: Ismaïla Sarr
Prologue After a successful play-off run defeating Morocco, Egypt and Algeria, French coach Bruno Metsu took Senegal to South Korea and Japan, to play in their first World Cup back in 2002. One of the dark horses of the tournament, 42nd placed Senegal surprised the world after a 1-0 victory against European powerhouse France, who were ranked 1st…
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Nikola Milenković: Serbia’s long-term heir to Vidić?
Although living in the shadow of the hype surrounding Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Fiorentina centre-back Nikola Milenković is thriving. With just five international caps to his name, Milenković is inexperienced yet has quickly taken to international football and is now demonstrating his ability on the world’s biggest stage. Milenković, 20, started his career in the youth ranks…
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Scouting World Cup Stars: Lee Jae Sung
When Kwon Chang-Hoon limped off the pitch after rupturing his ACL, every beating heart in South Korea’s fanbase stood still. The Dijon midfielder had an immaculate start to life in Europe; in his first full season at Dijon, he netted 11 goals in 34 performances, becoming one of the biggest revelations in the Ligue 1…
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Why Andriy Lunin Can Reach Greatness at Real Madrid
Today, Andriy Lunin was announced as Real Madrid’s first summer signing. The 19-year-old joins the European champions for a fee of 14 million Euros. Lunin is part of the rarest brand in football–a teenage goalkeeper who starts for his club. You don’t find too many. Most who do tend to get a random chance, and…
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Scouting World Cup Stars: Jefferson Lerma
In Russia 2018, Colombia will once again be looking to light up the World Cup like they did four years ago in Brazil. Some of the stars of that show are still around, with Captain Radamel Falcao fit and available this time. The squad is overflowing with quality – and confidence – from defence to…
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Scouting World Cup Stars: Yoshinori Muto
Japanese players have made a name for themselves playing in the German Bundesliga, and that has boosted the national team throughout this decade. From Shinji Kagawa to Shinji Okazaki, Atsuto Uchida to Yuya Osako and beyond, the turn of the century has seen an immense influx of Far Eastern players coming to the home of…
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Scouting World Cup Stars: Marko Pjaca
Marko Pjaca has been one of the most highly-rated young players in World Football for some years now, and rightly so. Since he burst onto the scene at Lokomotiva in Croatia, many have tipped him for greatness. And why not? At just 18, he lit up the Prva Hrvatska Nogometna Liga (Prva HNL) with breathtaking…
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Scouting World Cup Stars: Timo Werner
When you journey through the rich, illustrious history of German football, successful strikers are plentiful. From past legends like Gerd Müller and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge to more recent heroes such as Jürgen Klinsmann and Miroslav Klose, the number nine position has been mastered by names synonymous with scoring goals. Yet recently, Die Mannschaft has seen a…
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Scouting World Cup Stars: Trézéguet
As an Egyptian football player, it’s been impossible to steal some headlines from Mohamed Salah this season. However, in the huge shadow cast by Salah, Mahmoud Ahmed Ibrahim Hassan, more commonly known as Trézéguet, has had the season of his career – being one of the standout players in the Turkish Süper Lig, and, Egyptian…
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El doble cinco y muchas cosas más
“Dime con que mediocentro juegas y te diré que equipo eres” Argentina se enfrentó a Islandia en un partido que dejó muchas dudas, tanto defensiva como ofensivamente, en las pocas veces que se les atacó su repliegue fue malo, su portero titular es suplente en su equipo, Franco Armani está en un mejor estado de…