Lionel
Messi played at the 2006 World Cup at the age of 19. Cesc Fabregas shot into
Arsenal's first team at the age of 16. Wayne Rooney made Manchester United's
first team at the age of 18. Cristiano Ronaldo played for Manchester United at
17. Neymar is now 21 and will be in Barcelona's first team. Ryan Giggs and
Gerard Pique were 18 when they made their respective debuts for Manchester
United. Oscar, Jack Wilshere, Mario Gotze, Lucas Moura... I can go on and on.
The
younger a player is when he experiences the big stage, the better he will develop.
In South Africa we see 24-year olds as "still too young". What? At 22
Messi had already won the FIFA Ballon d'Or. A good player must make the first
team of a big club before the age of 20. They need to be given a chance so that
by the time they are in their early 20s, they are well established key players
for their respective teams. This trend of players only becoming stars at age 27
or 28 must come to an end.
Our
youngsters must get thrown into the deep end. That is what happens all around
the world. Look at how well Itumeleng Khune has developed. I think he was about
20 years old when he made his debut for Chiefs.
It's
high time we enforce a responsibility on our youngsters' shoulders. I want to
see South Africa playing at junior championships like the under-20 World Cup.
Maybe the Premier Soccer League (PSL) must enforce that every team in the PSL
must have one or two local under-20 players in their squads, and they must be
given game time.
