Previous winners include Jadon Sancho and Gianluigi Donnarumma, with journalists from around the world voting for the game’s most exciting youngsters
Real Madrid winger Rodrygo and SGS Essen midfielder Lena Oberdorf have been named the winners of Goal’s NxGn 2020 awards after being voted the world’s most talented teenage footballers.
Journalists from across Goal’s 43 editions voted on the brightest wonderkids in the game, born on or after January 1, 2001.
Previous winners of the men’s award include Jadon Sancho, Justin Kluivert and Gianluigi Donnarumma, with Rodrygo hoping to emulate their success as he continues his development.
Signed from Santos for €45 million (£39m/$52m) in the summer of 2018, Rodrygo eventually joined up with Madrid last summer and has made quite an impact on Zinedine Zidane’s first team during his maiden campaign in Spain.
He needed just 93 seconds to score a debut goal for Los Blancos before becoming the youngest ever player to score a perfect hat-trick in the Champions League when netting a treble against Galatasaray in early November.
That form saw him earn a first call-up to the senior Brazil squad, with the player once dubbed the ‘new Neymar’ earning his first cap against Argentina in November.
Thus far in 2019-20 he has scored seven goals and provided two assists in 18 matches for Madrid as Zidane’s side chase silverware at home and on the continent.
“There is no point in winning the award, but not following up on the field,” he told Goal upon receiving his prize.
“I think this award motivates me a lot, gives me a lot of confidence. I hope that happens, that I continue this current season very well.”
Rodrygo beat Barcelona forward Ansu Fati into second place, with the 17-year-old having burst onto the scene at Camp Nou this term.
Fati became the youngest player to ever score in the Champions League with his winning goal against Inter in December and is being tipped by some to help fill the void left by Lionel Messi when the Argentine eventually departs Camp Nou.
Manchester United attacker Mason Greenwood completes the top three after a season in which his development has accelerated under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The England youth international became the youngest European goalscorer in Red Devils history in September and has played a key role in pushing United back towards Champions League football next season.
Rodrygo’s fellow Brazilian Reinier is fourth on the list having joined his compatriot at Santiago Bernabeu in January after a breakout campaign at Flamengo, with his performances earning him comparisons with Kaka.
Eduardo Camavinga of Rennes, meanwhile, finishes fifth, with the 17-year-old defensive midfielder on the radars of both Real Madrid and Barcelona having put in some dominant performances in Ligue 1 this term.
The full list of 50 players, which also includes the likes of Gabriel Martinelli, Takefusa Kubo, Giovanni Reyna, Billy Gilmour and Youssoufa Moukoko, can be found here.
Oberdorf, meanwhile, is the inaugural winner of the women’s prize after a year which saw her become the youngest player to ever represent Germany at international level.
Despite only turning 18 in December, the central midfielder has become a regular for both club and country and is being tipped to become a star of the world game sooner rather than later.
“I feel very proud…it’s a lot of motivation for me to keep going,” Oberdorf told Goal upon receiving the NxGn trophy.
The full women’s list, headed by Oberdorf, will be released on Wednesday, April 1 at 12pm GMT (8am ET).
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