The talented attacker made his mark on the competition for Borussia Dortmund despite his incredibly young age
Borussia Dortmund‘s Youssoufa Moukoko made history on Wednesday by scoring in the UEFA Youth League at just 14 years of age.
The Germany Under-16 international netted after eight minutes of Dortmund’s meeting against Inter to become the competition’s youngest goalscorer.
Moukoko does not turn 15 until next month, meaning he smashed the previous record – 16 years and 30 days, held jointly by Ajax‘s Youri Regeer and Christos Liatsos of Olympiacos.
After scoring 50 goals during the 2018-19 campaign, Moukoko earned promotion to Dortmund’s under-19 setup for this season and has caught the eye of Germany boss Joachim Low.
“I’ve been speaking to [Dortmund U19 coach] Michael Skibbe for a while,” Low told the Bundesliga‘s official website. “Everyone involved is well advised to wait and let [Moukoko] develop in peace.”
Tooooooooooor für die #BVBU19, Youssoufa Moukoko trifft zum :. pic.twitter.com/Zq6HPqVXsZ
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) October 23, 2019
Moukoko burst on the scene as a 12-year-old in September 2017, when it was revealed he was the under-17 Junior Bundesliga West top scorer, with 16 goals in only seven matches.
The teenage striker was born in Cameroon but moved to Germany with his father Joseph in 2014 and immediately stood out for St Pauli’s Under 15 side as an 11-year-old.
A transfer to Dortmund followed and he netted an incredible 33 goals in 15 games at under-15 level.
Moukoko’s dominance against players three and four years older than him has seen questions arise about the legitimacy of his age.
“With Youssoufa, I can imagine that his age has only been guessed,” Timo Preus, manager of the BVB U-23s, told Spox.
“Maybe in reality he is one or two years older. But certainly he is not 17. For him that is very difficult. There is nothing to blame him for, the boy is not cheating or anything.”
However his father denies all allegations about an improper age: “His age is right. Immediately after he was born I registered him at the German consulate in Yaounde. We have a German birth certificate.”
Germany coach Joachim Low admitted to keeping tabs on Moukoko’s progress earlier this month.
“I’ve already asked [Dortmund under 19 youth coach] Michael Skibbe [about Moukoko],” Low told Sportbuzzer.
“Everyone involved would do well to wait for his development in peace.”
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