sstackho Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 A natural soccer talent: Abdoulaye Sylla, 13. Born in Guinea, he is one of Canada's rising stars ARPON BASU Freelance 561 words 19 April 2006 Montreal Gazette Final C8 English Copyright © 2006 Montreal Gazette Montreal soccer players receive a jersey when they register at the beginning of the season with the hopes of earning a medal or trophy at the end of summer. But when Abdoulaye Sylla began playing in his hometown of Conakry, Guinea, in West Africa, the jersey was the trophy. Organized soccer in Conakry, the capital of Guinea with a population of about one million, was made up of neighbourhood teams vying for a city championship. But throughout the season, a bigger goal was being played out. "Since we didn't have enough money to buy jerseys, we would bet some money on the games so that we could buy jerseys for the whole team," Sylla said. "I'm sure my team was able to buy their jerseys about a month after we left. We were that close." Sylla, 13, moved to Montreal in May 2001 with his older brother, Mohamed. Even though he came at a time of year when people are in T-shirts and shorts, his new home gave him the shivers. "I found it pretty cold, to be honest," he said with a laugh. Sylla was a promising talent at forward back in Conakry, but it took him about a year to find the Lac St. Louis Lakers soccer program. Once he did, however, his ascension to the highest ranks of the sport was swift. At age 9, Sylla jumped straight to the Lakers Under-13 Triple-A team. By the end of that first season, he made the Lac St. Louis regional team that won gold at the Quebec Games, and he also played for the Quebec U-14 team that won gold at the Canadian championships. Out of that, Sylla was recruited to join the Centre Nationale de Haute Performance, a training program meant to serve as a feeder system for the national team. All this before even becoming a Canadian citizen, but the progression did not seem all that quick to Sylla. "To me, it wasn't a big deal, because as far as I was concerned, I wasn't at the level I wanted to be," Sylla said. "My goal is to go to Europe and get recruited by a club there. So when I reach that goal, I'll set other goals for myself. But I've dreamed of playing in Europe ever since I started playing." He came ever so close to tasting that dream when he captained Canada's entry in the 2004 Danone Cup, an international youth tournament held every year in France. Canada won the fair-play award, and Sylla accepted the award from French superstar Zinedine Zidane. "I couldn't really say anything to him," Sylla admitted. "I had the impression I was dreaming." That's a pretty normal reaction, considering Sylla's humble beginnings, when he was literally playing for the shirt on his back. The Amateur Athlete of the Week is featured on television on Global News on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. and on our website at www.montrealgazette.com Colour Photo: PIERRE OBENDRAUF, THE GAZETTE / "I couldn't really say anything to him. I had the impression I was dreaming," Abdoulaye Sylla says of accepting an award from Zinedine Zidane in 2004. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 Maybe we'll have two talented brothers playing for Canada yet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 wow this kid sounds amazing. daniel your comment is interesting - considering all the "he should play for canada" debates we've around numerous players on this site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 That's my point. I doubt him and Mohamed (who will be back training with the Impact soon) would suit up for anyone but Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertuzzi44 Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Daniel That's my point. I doubt him and Mohamed (who will be back training with the Impact soon) would suit up for anyone but Canada. Considering Abdoulaye has already captained a Canadian youth team, I would think you're right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 i guess my point is a lot of people here and otherwise go on about how so-and-so should have chosen to play for canada. yet abdoulaye is from guinea. so should not the same argument be made he should play for guinea? now, it should be noted i believe you should play for the country in which you were born or raised. this is not black and white. emigration is a factor etc... but i just sorta notice a lot of people seem to hold a double standard for players who move here and live here. as opposed to our own players who do the reverse in other countries. that said, this kid sounds amazing and would love not much more than see him fulfill his young potential. (sidenote, it looks like at least 2 kids from the league i coached in played in the last danone cup here in bc. neither player played for a top team in the league). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 This kid came here to make a life for himself. That he is a good soccer player is a bonus. He is not some mercenary who has never set foot in the country that he's choosing, nor does he have some tenuous tie to this country through his parents. Realistically, the last place a kid looking to play soccer internatonally would come would be Canada. He is a Freddy Adu rather than an Owen Hargreaves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadasBest Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Daniel Maybe we'll have two talented brothers playing for Canada yet... The Lenarduzzi's and who else?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDN4EVR Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 Abdoulaye plays on one of Andrew hainault's younger brother's (Alex) "lakers" team and although he is good, he does not shine as he should, playing at the U16 AAA level. There is also many talks about this kid not beeing the age he claims to be and it seems he's been 13 for the past 2 years. He scored about 5-6 goals last season and as a forward, thats nothing to scream on the rooftops. Dont get me wrong, the boy is talented, although I think his older brother Momo has more potential in the long haul. As for which country he will be representing in the futur, I would hope it would be Canada as he has had many breaks here and has been very well taken care of. Good luck to him and the other boys at the Balymena tourny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDN4EVR Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 Abdoulaye plays on one of Andrew hainault's younger brother's (Alex) "lakers" team and although he is good, he does not shine as he should, playing at the U16 AAA level. There is also many talks about this kid not beeing the age he claims to be and it seems he's been 13 for the past 2 years. He scored about 5-6 goals last season and as a forward, thats nothing to scream on the rooftops. Dont get me wrong, the boy is talented, although I think his older brother Momo has more potential in the long haul. As for which country he will be representing in the futur, I would hope it would be Canada as he has had many breaks here and has been very well taken care of. Good luck to him and the other boys at the Balymena tourny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest speedmonk42 Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 I have to agree with Rudi. There is a big difference with someone who moves to a place to start a new life, rather than getting fast tracked on immigration because they are a soccer star. I don't think there are too many people on this board who would complain about OH if he moved to England when he was 9 because his family moved there to live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 no i get that abdoullaye is a refugee (or landed immigrant or whatever) and he is the exception to my argument you should play for where you were born. i guess that makes the point i was nonsensically making moot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAS Posted April 24, 2006 Share Posted April 24, 2006 It looks like Canada has it's own Freddy Adu! CAP HIM!!! CAP HIM!!! Sorry, I just had to get that out of my system. So a boy comes to North America from Africa at a very young age and shows alot of talent - even if there is some doubt about his real age. This sounds like Adu to me. Given that he came to Canada with his family, for non-soccer reasons, at the age of 9, and that he has developed much of his skill here, I think that him playing for Canada would be fine. You can hope that he plays for Canada (assuming that he amounts to anything) and still call Hargreaves a traitorous selfish whore, without being a hypocrite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
403 Addick Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Rudi This kid came here to make a life for himself. That he is a good soccer player is a bonus. He is not some mercenary who has never set foot in the country that he's choosing, nor does he have some tenuous tie to this country through his parents. Realistically, the last place a kid looking to play soccer internatonally would come would be Canada. He is a Freddy Adu rather than an Owen Hargreaves. Owen Hargreaves went to Germany because there was a better opportunity to further his career over there than here. Adu came to America because in America he would have more opportunities available than Ghana. How is it different? Six, or seven years in age? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bxl Boy Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Not an Adu, not a Heargraves Let's say... a De Guzman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 quote:Originally posted by 403 Addick Owen Hargreaves went to Germany because there was a better opportunity to further his career over there than here. Adu came to America because in America he would have more opportunities available than Ghana. How is it different? Six, or seven years in age? Do I really need to explain this to you? Hargreaves went to Germany to play professional soccer. He then decided to play international soccer for a England. Comparing Adu to Hargreaves would only be fair if Adu went to the USA to play professional soccer (which he didn't) and then went on to play internationally for a country that is neither the US nor Ghana (where he was born). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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