Opportunity knocked for a host of teenage hopefuls in the Europa League on Thursday, with 16-year-old Romelu Lukaku making the biggest impression as Anderlecht reached the last 32.
Lukaku scored twice in the first 20 minutes as Anderlecht defeated Ajax 3-1, helping his side pip the stylish Dutch giants to top spot in Group A.
Everton, with their place in yesterday’s knockout round draw already assured, also opted for youth in a 1-0 Group I home defeat against Belarusian side BATE Borisov.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Centerback Shane Duffy, 17, deflected a 25m drive from Alexsandr Yuryevich into his own net for the only goal of the night at Goodison Park as manager David Moyes made nine changes to the side that drew 3-3 with Chelsea last Saturday.
Defender Jake Bidwell — at 16 years and 271 days old — became the youngest player to figure for Everton in Europe and the third youngest behind Jose Baxter and James Vaughan to play for the first team. As well as defeat, Everton’s threadbare squad suffered another jolt when 18-year-old Jack Rodwell was forced off with an injury after just eight minutes.
Everton goalkeeper Carlo Nash, the oldest player at 36 and who was also making his first-team debut, said: “It was great, a bit like a reserve game to be honest. I’ve played a few times with the reserves with these lads and I thought they did tremendously tonight despite the score. They go out fearless these days, the kids. They showed that tonight.”
Elsewhere, Celtic, already out, came back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 at Rapid Vienna in Group C, where Hamburg and Hapoel Tel Aviv had made sure of qualification into the knockout round.
Celtic were three goals down after only 19 minutes with Nikica Jelavic (2) and Hamdi Salihi on target.
But Marc-Antoine Fortune then grabbed a brace before Paul McGowan drove in a stoppage-time equalizer for the Scots.
Italian hopes suffered a double setback as Genoa joined Lazio at the exit door.
Genoa lost 2-1 to Group B winners Valencia, for whom David Villa grabbed a last-gasp winner. Lille took second spot with a 3-1 win over Slavia Prague.
Lazio lost 1-0 at home to Levksi Sofia in Group G, where Austria’s FC Salzburg finished as the only side with a 100-percent record as Dusan Svento scored the only goal in a 1-0 win at fellow qualifiers Villarreal.
Long-time Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos played his last match for Group H winners Fenerbahce, helping the Turkish side to a 1-0 win over Sheriff of Moldova.
Carlos, 36, who signed for Fenerbahce from Real Madrid in 2007, had recently revealed he had penned a two-year deal with Corinthians of Sao Paulo.
Jobe Bellingham on Tuesday admitted to having “anxieties” on following in brother Jude’s footsteps after joining Borussia Dortmund in the summer. Jobe Bellingham, 19, is two years younger than Jude Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid in 2023 after three years at Dortmund. A centerpiece of the England national team, Jude Bellingham has emerged as one of the best players in the world in recent seasons. The younger Jobe Bellingham joined Dortmund in June from Sunderland after their promotion to the English Premier League. He admitted he understood what the perception would be ahead of the move to Germany. “It’s something you do think about.
Before Tuesday’s 7-2 win at the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy suggested “most people couldn’t tell you five players on our team.” A look at the standings would indicate more Brewers players soon will be recognized by more fans. After all, it is difficult to overlook a team that not only continues to extend their lead in the National League Central, but also boasts the best record in the majors. “What we’re doing in here right now is special,” right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta said after allowing only four hits and one run in five innings, while setting a career high with
A baseball team from New Taipei City won the US Pony Palomino Division World Series yesterday in Laredo, Texas, defeating the US West representative team from Azusa, California, 2-1. Ku-Pao Home Economics and Commercial High School earned the right to represent Taiwan in the Pony Palomino (17 to 18 age group) World Series after winning this year's Wang Chen-chih Cup, a competition named after Taiwanese-Japanese baseball legend Wang Chen-chih (王貞治), also known as Sadaharu Oh. In the championship game against Azusa, Ku-Pao's starting pitcher Luo Yu-yan (羅于晏) was erratic early, giving up two hits in the bottom of the first inning, followed
Taiwanese pitcher Teng Kai-wei took the mound in New York on Saturday as the starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants in his MLB season debut against the New York Mets, pitching 3.1 innings and allowing five runs. The Taiwanese right-hander struggled early, giving up three runs in the bottom of the first inning, including a three-run homer to Mets slugger Pete Alonso — his 250th career home run. However, Teng was not fazed and soon found his footing, holding the Mets scoreless in the bottom of the second and third innings. Meanwhile, Mets starter Kodai Senga of Japan made a few errors
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