Now that the tournament that crowned Germany as U-17 world champions in Indonesia is over, it is time to take a look back at those talents who have not only excelled at the tournament but who have shown that they have the different and distinguished qualities and potential to be considered as first-class future projects.
As we do with all international national team tournaments, we offer the best eleven of the tournament, substitutes in each position and a small individual report with data on the five most outstanding players who in the near future have a good chance of becoming a reference in their position due to their talent, personality, competitiveness or the combination of all these aspects. Let’s get to it.
It has been a championship of a high level, with names of undoubted innate talent and also with surprising performances by players with extraordinary consistency. Although they will not appear in the top five most outstanding players, the performances of Pau Prim, Juan Giménez, Agustín Ruberto or Paris Brunner have deserved a space and recognition to follow up on their talents as options for clubs or agencies that may be sounding out players before the start of the World Cup. Let’s go, then, with the five players who, in our opinion, have been a step above the rest or who have shone in such a way, even if it was more punctual, that we should mention them as talents with a very important potential.
Estevao Willian (2007)
Palmeiras’ next star of the future already showed his first signs of talent at the last Copinha. Estevao Willian is a winger who starts on the right, is highly plastic, technically fantastic and focused on creating chances. Contrary to what you might imagine when you think of a Brazilian player of this profile, although he is really aesthetic, he is not a player who is gimmicky or who embellishes more than necessary. He has the ability to overflow and is always looking for the goal. More than destined to be Endrick’s heir in the future.
Amara Diouf (2008)
Génération Foot continues to produce interesting talents. Amara Diouf was undoubtedly the first big revelation of this U17 World Cup. He made his debut with two goals against Argentina and was unable to continue to show his quality in the following matches, as his team failed to accompany him or exploit his best qualities at any time, but he showed great potential at a very young age. We are talking about a left winger but with a second striker’s moves and a very high level of determination. Skilful and explosive in short distances, very powerful for a 15-year-old and with a certain natural talent for scoring goals. He averaged more than seven touches in the box, more than three shots and almost three dribbles in the minutes he played.
Claudio Echeverri (2006)
He has gone from strength to strength and has once again shown the football world that he is a very special talent. River Plate’s diablito delighted us with a historic performance against Brazil (hat-trick) and showed extraordinary personality in the moments before Argentina’s late equaliser against Germany. Echeverri is not a 10′ as such, but rather a playmaker; that is to say, he is a player with more weight in the final third, a ’10’ who focuses his talent on generating the chance rather than participating in the construction of the play. He prefers to accelerate, turn and drive between the lines, but has the quality to improve a few metres further back.
Pau Cubarsí (2007)
The best central defender project that the Barcelona academy currently has and one of the future starters at Spanish national team level. This has been the first Spanish national team whose best players are defenders, partly because of Pau Cubarsí and Jon Martin. The FC Barcelona defender is athletic, although he is not yet very tall for the position he occupies. He is intelligent, quick and has a brilliant off-the-ball delivery, including a fantastic right-footed long shot. In fact, he has completed 7.27 long passes between the World Cup and the U-17 European Championship, a very high figure.
Noah Darvich (2006)
Signed by FC Barcelona after his good U-17 Euro, Noah Darvich has confirmed his level at the World Cup by being the leader of the newly crowned champions Germany. He has been the offensive nucleus of the team based on his technical and associative quality. Darvich is a left-footed ’10’ who starts on the right and works his way inside. Elegant and with a potentially elite physique, he is very good at making decisions near the box. His greatest virtue lies in the creativity of his actions, as he averages 0.3 expected assists per ninety minutes between club and country, a top figure in 2023.
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