Gedion Zelalem, for at least one U-20 World Cup match, lived up to the piles of hype heaped upon him by the American soccer community. The 18-year-old midfielder plays at Arsenal and appears to be rated highly by manager Arsene Wenger, which is reason enough alone to get excited about his future prospects. That said, the German-born midfielder is still mostly an unknown in America — unless you spend time watching Arsenal reserve team matches.
Zelalem gained clearance to play for the United States earlier this year and joined the U.S. U-20 team for the World Cup in New Zealand. On Tuesday he helped the Americans batter the hosts 4-0. During the match he pulled off a slick rabona at the end of the penalty area, something I’m hard-pressed to remember any American pulling off in an international competition at any level.
Here is Gedion Zelalem’s rabona. http://pic.twitter.com/EtUlov3ECu
— Over There (@socceroverthere) June 2, 2015
The natural inclination is to dismiss the play or think it’s no big deal, but that’s a nice piece of skill to pull off in a World Cup setting, albeit the youth level. Zelalem also made a New Zealand player look dumb with a nutmeg.
You can watch the full highlights below, including Zelalem’s assist.
Maybe it’s worth allowing yourself to get excited about Zelalem. Sure there is a big difference between schooling some hapless defenders at the U-20 level compared to the senior international level, but Zelalem is confident and assured on the ball — something the U.S. always needs in the midfield. Take Zelalem and U-20 captain Emerson Hyndman, who played regularly for Fulham in the English Championship this season, and the future suddenly looks a lot brighter.
RELATED: Gedion Zelalem Becomes U.S. Citizen, American Soccer Fans Continue to Dream About His Potential
[photo via Getty]
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