1. Hirving Lozano (Mexico)
| Age: 22 | Position: Winger | Club: PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) | | |
Lozano was given his nickname 'El Chucky' as a child, when he would hide
under the bed and try to frighten other boys. He hit four goals in
Mexico's qualifying campaign and was named one of Fifa's young stars of
2017.
2. Cristian Pavon (Argentina)
| Age: 22 | Position: Winger | Club: Boca Juniors (Argentina) |
Pavon loves to cut in from the left on to his right foot and is showing a
promising understanding with Lionel Messi. Argentina coach Jorge
Sampaoli says: 'Cristian is a player who has very special
characteristics for communicating with Messi. He goes to space, he is
offering all the time and he has an important dynamic'.
3. Aleksei Miranchuk (Russia)
| Age: 22 | Position: Attacking midfielder | Club: Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia) |
Miranchuk, who can play on the right wing or up front, scored seven
goals to help Lokomotiv Moscow win the Russian Premier League for the
first time since 2004. His twin brother Anton is a midfielder.
4. Breel Embolo (Switzerland)
| Age: 21 | Position: Striker | Club: Schalke 04 (Germany) |
Embolo was born in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, and lived there
until he was five. After a year in France, he moved to Basel and has had
a Swiss passport since 2014. He is a favourite of the Switzerland fans,
who sing 'Oh Embolo! Oh Embolo!' (to the tune of 'The Lion Sleeps
Tonight').
5. Renato Tapia (Peru)
| Age: 22 | Position: Midfielder, centre-half, right-back | Club: Feyenoord (Netherlands) |
Tapia left Peru aged 16 for a trial with Liverpool in 2011 after they
spotted him in the World Youth Cup but, in an interview he gave to Dutch
magazine Voetbal International in 2016, he claimed the Reds told him he
was too short - despite him being 6ft tall at the time. He has now
grown an extra half-inch.
6. Sardar Azmoun (Iran)
| Age: 23 | Position: Striker | Club: Rubin Kazan (Russia) |
Known as 'the Iranian Messi' - for his dribbling ability - and 'the
Iranian Zlatan' for his quality in the air, Azmoun was heavily linked
with Liverpool in January 2016 but a transfer never materialised.
7. Achraf Hakimi (Morocco)
| Age: 19 | Position: Full-back | Club: Real Madrid (Spain) |
Hakimi was born in Getafe, Spain, but both his parents are from Morocco
and he made his debut for the Atlas Lions at the age of 17, before he
made his senior debut for Real Madrid.
8. Andre Silva (Portugal)
| Age: 22 | Position: Striker | Club: AC Milan (Italy) |
Silva, who has scored 12 goals in 22 games for Portugal, joined AC Milan from Porto for £33m in the summer of 2017.
9. Rodrigo Bentancur (Uruguay)
| Age: 20 | Position: Midfielder | Club: Juventus (Italy) |
Juve provisionally signed Bentancur in 2015 as part of the deal that saw
Carlos Tevez move to Boca Juniors. He eventually joined the Italian
side for £8m in July 2017.
10. Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Iran)
| Age: 24 | Position: Striker | Club: AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands) |
Jahanbakhsh scored 21 goals and made 12 assists for AZ Alkmaar and
became the first footballer from the Middle East or Asia to finish as
top scorer in a major European league.
11. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Serbia)
| Age: 23 | Position: Midfielder | Club: Lazio (Italy) |
Nicknamed the Sergeant, Milinkovic-Savic stands 6ft 4in tall. His mother
was a professional basketball player and tall genes run in the family -
his younger brother Vanja is 6ft 8in is a goalkeeper who signed for
Manchester United in 2014 but left after failing to secure a work
permit.
12. Youri Tielemans (Belgium)
| Age: 21 | Position: Midfielder | Club: Monaco (France) |
Tielemans says playing judo from the age of four has helped him in his
football career, explaining: "It taught me a lot because you have to
think. You have to use your strength and play with the weakness of the
opponent. You have to use your head and then there is this culture of
work."
13. Ismaila Sarr (Senegal)
| Age: 20 | Position: Forward | Club: Rennes (France) |
Sarr is from the same 'Generation Foot' academy in Senegal that produced
Liverpool's Sadio Mane. As well as claiming he rejected Barcelona, Sarr
was linked with Newcastle and Borussia Dortmund before joining Rennes
last summer.
14. Uros Spajic (Serbia)
| Age: 25 | Position: Centre-back | Club: Krasnodar (Russia) |
Spajic joined Anderlect for £2m from French side Toulouse in 2017, after spending a year on loan with the Belgian side.
15. Maxi Gomez (Uruguay)
| Age: 21 | Position: Striker | Club: Celta Vigo (Spain) |
Nicknamed 'the Bull', Gomez scored 18 times for Celta Vigo in the season
just finished - including strikes against both Barcelona and Real
Madrid.
No comments:
Post a Comment