OneFootball
Dan Burke·14 November 2021
OneFootball
Dan Burke·14 November 2021
Playing professional football at the age of 15 is crazy enough, but playing senior international football at that age is absolutely ridiculous.
On Sunday, Romania handed a first international cap to 15-year-old wonderkid Enes Sali when he came off the bench against Liechtenstein.
In September Sali became the youngest player to score in the Romanian top flight when he netted for Farul Constanta, who are coached by Romanian legend Gheorghe Hagi.
And now he is the youngest ever European player to appear in a competitive international fixture, taking Martin Ødegaard’s record, who also made his senior debut for Norway aged 15.
The tricky attacking midfielder was born in Toronto, Canada in February 2006 (!) and spent some time in Barcelona’s La Masia academy, where he got to train alongside his idol Lionel Messi.
“Messi, Neymar and Andres Iniesta taught me many things. They told me to trust myself,” Sali later recalled.
Whether he’s the next Messi or the next Freddy Adu, we’re probably going to be hearing plenty more about this young man in the coming years.