Footballing Weekly: Evan Ferguson, Nathan Mao, Danelle Tan thrill with raw talent

SINGAPORE — There is always a rush of heady excitement among football fans whenever they find out about a bright young talent making a breakthrough.

In the English Premier League (EPL), Brighton's Evan Ferguson has flown out of the gates in the early days of the 2023/24 season, plundering four goals in four matches - including a magnificent hat-trick in the Seagulls' 3-1 win over Newcastle on Saturday (2 September).

That makes the Irish forward only the fourth player to register a hat-trick in the EPL at age 18 - after Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Chris Bart-Williams.

All of Ferguson's three goals against Newcastle were clinical strikes from outside the box, evoking comparisons to Manchester United great Wayne Rooney, who also burst onto the scene at age 17 in 2002.

Like Rooney, Ferguson is powerfully-built at 1.88m tall, and is equally adept at breaking past the last line of defenders. And just as Rooney who eventually made the move from childhood club Everton to EPL giants Man United, Ferguson is already attracting plenty of admirers from the top EPL clubs.

One of them is rumoured to be Manchester City, even though they already have a potent striker in Erling Haaland, UEFA's newest Player of the Year award winner. One shudders to imagine how much better the defending champions could become, should they manage to eventually sign Ferguson.

Nathan Mao, Danelle Tan put in top performances

Here in Singapore, a couple of young footballers are also turning heads with their scoring exploits.

At the recent Lion City Cup youth tournament which concluded on Sunday, Singapore's U-15 team from the National Development Centre finished second after losing on penalties to Thailand club side BG Pathum's youth team at Jalan Besar Stadium.

Their encouraging outing was punctuated by an eye-catching performance by 15-year-old Nathan Mao, who plundered three goals in the U-15s' two matches at the Lion City Cup - twice in a 3-1 win over Selangor FC, and then the equaliser in the 1-1 full-time draw against BG Pathum.

Nathan, who also became the youngest player to feature in the Singapore Premier League when he debuted for the Lion City Sailors in April, showed plenty of promise both in scoring goals and creating them, and those who witnessed his Lion City Cup exploits would certainly be excited at his prospects.

Likewise, 18-year-old Danelle Tan has been also earning plaudits since making her move to play overseas, first with the London Bees and now with German giants Borussia Dortmund.

In her second competitive match with Dortmund on Sunday, the forward grabbed a superb hat-trick as well as three assists in the club's 13-0 drubbing of DJK Spvgg Herten in the 14-team Landesliga, the fifth tier of women's football in Germany. She was also named Player of the Match.

Tan has had a stellar pre-season since joining the BVB Frauen, with three goals in six friendlies, and five in the seven-a-side Peuler Deerns Cup. Fans will hope she continues her success among the burgeoning women's football scene in Singapore.

Follow the new EPL season with all segments of this week's "Footballing Weekly" show on YouTube. If you wish the hear the show in its entirety, visit the show's Spotify and Acast pages.

For more football news, visit our Football page on Yahoo!

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter. Also check out our Southeast Asia, Food, and Gaming channels on YouTube.