Malaysian wonderkid Luqman Hakim Shamsudin has been named one of the Guardian's 60 best young footballers in the world in 2019.
This year's list, which compiles the best 17-year-old players from around the world, featured the likes of Barcelona's Ansu Fati, who recently became the team's youngest goal-scorer in La Liga and the league's youngest player to score and assist in the same match, and Real Madrid's Andri Lucas Gudjohnsen, son of former Chelsea and Barcelona star Eidur.
Luqman, who is set to join Belgian First Division side K.V. Kortrijk next year, made the list after his international exploits at the youth level, including helping Malaysia finish as runners-up at the 2019 AFF U-19 Youth Championship .
"Malaysia have waited years for someone to replace the late and much lamented Mokhtar Dahari, and this striker has been tipped as one who just may be able to fill those sizeable shoes," wrote John Duerden.
The National Football Development Programme (NFDP) graduate was one of six players from the AFC region on the list, with Noah Botic (Australia/Hoffenheim), Jun Nishikawa (Japan/Cerezo Osaka), Khasanov Mukhriddin (Tajikistan/Parvoz), Suphanat Mueanta (Thailand/Buriram United), and Jasurbek Jaloliddinov (Uzbekistan/Bunyodkor) joining him.
Seng Foo Lee
Fri Oct 11 2019
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