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21/02/2017Here we go, FourFourTwo’s first ever collection of the best footballers under the age of 20 from right across Southeast Asia. Presented in no particular order, these are the precocious talents football fans should be keeping an eye on in the coming years…
Supachok Sarachat – Thailand
A product of Buriram United’s academy, Supachok Sarachat was promoted to the first team in 2015 and became a regular the following year.
He also became the third youngest player to compete in the AFC Champions League when he featured against FC Seoul and Shandong Luneng in 2016.
The 18-year-old midfielder has agility, high technical ability and can operate well in tight spaces, so he can play any offensive position – attacking midfielder, left or right winger and even as the second striker.
In 2016 he played 20 matches for the ‘Thunder Castle’, almost three times more than in the previous season, and his goal against Army United was named Thai League goal of the week.
Although his form in the national youth team is not as impressive as for his club, very few high school students could handle playing for such a big club in such impressive fashion. – KT
Marco Casambre – Philippines
“Marco showed in training that he’s awake and he’s there,” said Philippines coach Thomas Dooley late last year, rather underwhelmingly.
Yet there is far more to the teenager’s game than simply not being asleep, although he must have thought he was dreaming when he made his international debut against Thailand, the best team in the region, in a vital AFF Suzuki Cup clash last November.
He did pretty well too and there are predictions he can be a mainstay of the Azkal defence for the best part of two decades.
He uses the ball well, has the proverbial old-head-on-young-shoulders and, crucially, has enormous amounts of time to keep improving. – JD
Ha Duc Chinh – Vietnam
Previously known by the less than kind nickname ‘wooden leg’, Ha Duc Chinh has well and truly cast aside that moniker in the past 18 months.
In that time he’s emerged as the most important option in front of goal for a Vietnamese team that’s preparing to participate in this year’s FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
A modern forward who is powerful and direct, he possesses good pace and a strong technique that makes him a threat both in the air and on the ground and he already looks like being the attacking centrepiece at his new V.League side Da Nang.
Comfortable either as a central striker or in the role he occupies for the national team, part of a two-man frontline, he’s fast earning a reputation for being not just a goalscorer, but also a scorer of important goals. – SM
Supachai Chaided – Thailand
This youngster was a key man for Super Power last season, helping them just avoid relegation, even though it was his debut season as a professional.
The Pattani-born player was promoted to the first team in 2016 and found a place in the starting 11 by match day three of the Thai League, coming up against BEC Tero Sasana.
Since then he has been a first-team regular, despite being deployed as a defensive midfielder, completely different from his role as a striker in national junior Thai teams.
At international level, he has proven to be a clinical striker, famously scoring a hat-trick against Australia and finishing as the second top-scorer in the 2016 AFF Under-19 Championship.
He also scored against Bahrain in the AFC Under-19 Championship. After his breakthrough season, he moved to Thai League 1 giants Buriram, making his debut in the Mekong Club Championship and winning that title with his new club. – KT
Daniel de Silva – Australia
After joining Perth Glory as a 15-year-old back in 2013, attacking midfielder De Silva was linked with a move to AS Roma two years later, but the deal never eventuated.
Despite missing out on a contract with the Italian giants, the West Australian still headed to Europe and joined Dutch Eredivisie club Roda JC on a two-year loan.
He played eight times in the league in 2015/16, mostly as a substitute, before a knee injury hindered his progress.
This season he took his total number of appearances to 20, but recently decided to sever ties with Roda JC over a lack of opportunities, returning to Perth to determine his next move.
De Silva has represented Australia through the junior ranks and has also been called into Socceroo squads under coach Ange Postecoglou, but is yet to make his senior debut. – TU
Safawi Rasid – Malaysia
Safawi emerged as T-Team’s breakout player in 2016 after making other Malaysia Super League sides take notice of his speedy runs down the flank and fearless attitude in taking on more experienced players.
Expected to feature prominently for Malaysia’s under-22 team at the 2017 SEA Games, he also made his senior international debut last year.
He was dropped for the AFF Suzuki Cup, but Tigers coach Ong Kim Swee insisted Safawi was one for the future.
Named 2016’s most promising player at last December’s Malaysian Football Awards, Safawi moved to three-time consecutive Malaysia Super League winners Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) ahead of the 2017 season. – VV
Worachit Kanitsribumpen – Thailand
“He has everything a player needs to succeed, he just needs to work hard,” Chonburi coach Therdsak Chaiman, a man who knows a thing or three about young talent, said last year.
The 19-year-old midfielder has packed plenty into his short career so far: captaining Thailand’s under-19 team, receiving invitations to travel to England and having a trial in Japan with FC Tokyo.
Last season, he played almost half of the Shark’s games and the challenge this year, before any more flirtations with an overseas league, is to make the midfield spot his own. – JD
Pandi Lestaluhu – Indonesia
Hailing from Tulehu, a province with a very strong football culture, Pandi Lestaluhu has the potential to be an important winger for his country, improving greatly firstly with Persija Jakarta and again following a move to PS TNI.
“Pandi is a young player that I projected could feature in the first team,” said Paulo Camargo, former Persija manager. “He has the speed.”
Since his move, Lestaluhu has become a key player for PS TNI, featuring in 20 matches and contributing two goals and three assists and a passing accuracy of 70 per cent.
Although his team finished at the bottom of the table at the end of the ISC A season, he was still among PS TNI’s most prominent players, berfore earning a return to Indonesian giants Persija for 2017. – TU
Alex Gersbach – Australia
Things have certainly been progressing in Gersbach’s favour in recent years.
Since making his A-League debut for Sydney FC in October 2014, the 19-year-old moved to Europe, won a league title in Norway at his first attempt, made a lasting impression in his international debut against Greece – the country his grandparents left decades ago – and attracted interested from Italian giants Juventus.
Gersbach, a late substitute in his Socceroos’ introduction last June, set-up the winner which handed Australia their first win over a European nation in five years.
The one-time Australian Institute of Sport trainee has worked his way into the first 11 at Rosenberg since his move at the start of 2016. – VV
Ho Minh Di – Vietnam
Ho Minh Di was never supposed to be a footballer; when he enrolled in trials as an 11-year-old at youth club PVF he stood just 1.31 metres tall and weighed 27 kilograms.
Having beaten off 200 other hopefuls, however, he made the squad and from there it’s been a dramatic rise for the still pint-sized (1.59m) winger.
Already established as a regular in the PVF senior team, he was snapped up this year by V.League champions Hanoi T&T, with his previous coach praising his “incredible talent on the ball and abilities to pass and shoot”.
Firmly ensconced on the left wing of the World Cup-bound under-20 national team, Minh Di, who loves to take on opponents one-on-one, is regarded as one of the most electric young attacking talents in Southeast Asia. – SM