Prodigies

England traveled to Leeds for its World Cup send-off match against Costa Rica Thursday, and 20-year-old Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford wasted no time in delighting a capacity crowd at Elland Road. 

Rashford was just a 16-year-old when Costa Rica and England played to a 0-0 draw in Belo Horizonte back in 2014 (England were already eliminated at that point following defeats to Italy and Uruguay), but the Mancunian played like a man possessed to open the proceedings today.

Mexico is through to the final of the prestigious Toulon Tournament, and it’s 19-year-old striker Eduardo Aguirre who’s captured the headlines in France. Only one player has managed more than two goals throughout the tournament, and that’s Aguirre — he’s got SEVEN.

Last August, we delved into Neymar’s absurd $265 million transfer to Paris Saint-Germain by comparing it to Amine Harit’s own transfer from Nantes to Schalke 04 for $9.5 million. The question, in essence, was how could the Brazilian star possibly be 28x more expensive than the precocious Moroccan?

In what all USMNT fans had hoped would be a World Cup tune-up game, the friendly between the USMNT and Bolivia had a decidely different narrative. Interim manager Dave Sarachan selected a number of USMNT young players against Bolivia, and their performances showed promise.

Embed from Getty Images

If you haven’t heard of him before, this is 15-year-old Angeleno Efrain Alvarez. He was given a professional contract by the Los Angeles Galaxy back in March, becoming the seventh youngest signing in league history.

He was sent to LA Galaxy II in the USL to begin the season, and he’s tearing up the league at an astonishing rate. Today, he scored two absolute golazos against Portland Timbers 2.  

The hype surrounding 20-year-old French winger Ousmane Dembele was largely quelled this season after a pair of injuries kept the kid sidelined for 27 games between September and February, but it was only a matter of fitness until the train’s wheels started rolling again.

Borussia Dortmund hammered top four rivals Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 at the Westfalenstadion on Saturday with goals from 18-year-old Jadon Sancho, Maximilian Philipp and a Marco Reus brace. Christian Pulisic provided the assist on Sancho’s opener after beating three defenders near midfield before playing in the English phenom.