From Germany to Brazil (via Ghana): which country has the best talent coming through?

With a weekend of international football coming up, we pick teams consisting of players under the age of 23 from nine different countries to see where the future looks the brightest

Argentina

A rich seam of attacking players but not so hot at the back. Sound familiar? The most successful nation in Fifa’s World Youth Championship having won the competition a record six times, Argentina usually lead the way in development and the future looks pretty rosy with Mauro Icardi and Paulo Dybala waiting to step into the shoes of Lionel Messi and co. In particular, hopes are high that Dybala – who joined Juventus from Palermo this month for €32m after managing 13 goals and 10 assists in Serie A – could prove to be the man to take over from Messi when time finally catches up with him. Icardi is no slouch either having scored 22 goals in 36 Serie A appearances for a struggling Internazionale side, with rumours that he is a target for Real Madrid. Add in promising Valencia winger Rodrigo de Paul and playmaker Joaquín Correa and there is plenty of reason for optimism, even if the rest of the players available to senior coach Gerardo Martino do not inspire such confidence. The entire defence and goalkeeper are still based in Argentina, although Boca Juniors’ defender Lisandro Magallán is tipped for big things when he finally returns from a long injury layoff and the goalkeeper Augusto Batalla is rumoured to be on Real Madrid’s wish list. Diego ‘Chavo’ Fuchs and Marcela Mora y Araujo

Argentina

Brazil

The Brazil Under-23 team have changed direction recently, with Dunga, who is looking after the senior team as well, taking over from Alexandre Gallo. This means that Dunga will lead the team in the Olympic Games next year, obviously an important tournament for the hosts. A lot of the players in that team – and in our selection – play in Europe and have made their debuts for the senior team. Players such as Fabinho, Marquinhos, Geferson and Fred will play in the Copa América this month. There is a good mix in this team, from Marquinhos, who has just completed his second season at PSG after a campaign at Roma, to the attack-minded Fred, Rafinha and Felipe Anderson, with the latter having had a wonderful season at Lazio. Neymar is just too old for this selection, having turned 23 in February. The Olympics will be an important stepping stone for these players but if they can cope with the pressure they will be under there, then the future looks bright for Brazil. Dassler Marques

Brazil

England

The last time we talked of a Golden Generation with England it turned out iron pyrite would have been a better description. So let’s not over-hype the current group of players who are coming through. Even a more established player such as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has plenty to do before he proves he is capable of excelling at the highest level. The defence has both potential and vulnerability. The goalkeeper, Jack Butland, has not progressed quite the way it was once hoped and Ross Barkley appears to have regressed slightly at Everton. On a more positive note, Barkley is worth persisting with and a front three of Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane and Patrick Bamford offers a good mix of attacking qualities. Daniel Taylor

England

France

France are renowned for the quality of their formation and the clubs’ youth academies. Two summers ago, the Under-20 team, led by Paul Pogba, were crowned world champions in Turkey and the core of that golden generation is surely destined for greater things with the senior team. Pogba, who turned 22 in March, is obviously the standout name. The midfielder is already one of the best players in the world. The defence is impressive with Kurt Zouma, Raphaël Varane, Aymeric Laporte or Layvin Kurzawa, while further up the field Nabil Fekir has been the revelation in Ligue 1 this season. The 21-year-old scored his first goal for France last Sunday against Belgium, in his third cap. Anthony Martial is only 19 but is an incredible talent, which he showed throughout his breakthrough season with Monaco in 2014-15, scoring 12 goals and impressing in Ligue 1 and in the Champions League. Among this team, seven have already been called up by Didier Deschamps (Zouma, Varane, Kurzawa, Pogba, Kondogbia, Fekir and Paul-Georges Ntep) and the others are Under-21 internationals, with Martial and Laporte very close to a call-up to the senior squad. Let’s not forget as well that France became Under-17 European champions in Bulgaria last month after outplaying pretty much everybody and the Under-20s won the prestigious Tournoi de Toulon. Despite not being part of the Under-21 Euros this month, the future of French football looks very bright indeed. Julien Laurens

France

Germany

One reliable indicator of German football’s new-found ability to produce plenty of talent is the low level of hype and noise that surrounds the next generation of professionals coming through. Fifteen years into the turbocharged revolution in youth development at club and national level, 18-year-olds who are regulars in the top flight – such as Stuttgart’s winger Timo Werner (64 Bundesliga matches) – are greeted with little more than an appreciative nod. Although progress has been uneven for some of the youngsters, not least because of frequent managerial changes in their clubs, others, such as the defenders Antonio Rüdiger and Matthias Ginter and midfielder Julian Draxler, have already made it to the senior international team and have a great chance to start at the Euros in France. Keep an eye out for the attacking midfielder Julian Brandt and tall, elegant striker Davie Selke, too. With Germany qualifying for all five youth tournaments in 2015 – they’re the only nation to have done so – future national coaches will remain spoilt for choice for years to come. Raphael Honigstein

Germany

Ghana

Ghana’s Under-20 setup has been vaunted ever since the team won gold at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Egypt. Under their coach, Sellas Tetteh, Ghana have been able to have a conveyor belt for the Olympic and senior teams. The best legacy so far has been the progression of the André Ayew-led 2009 team which is now the core of Ghana’s senior squad. Although these Under-20s have just exited the World Cup in New Zealand, there is a lot of hope for the future, especially for Godfred Donsah, Clifford Aboagye and Yaw Yeboah. Gary Al-Smith

Ghana

Italy

The future of Italian goalkeeping appears to be in good hands, Mattia Perin having already established himself as one of the best at his position in Serie A. He won his first cap for Italy’s senior team last November, and is viewed already as the likely heir to Gigi Buffon. Alessio Romagnoli and Daniele Rugani may one day anchor the defence that protects him for the national team. The former has been compared to a young Alessandro Nesta after starring on loan this season for Sampdoria, and the latter started all 38 games for a newly promoted Empoli side who defied expectations to stay afloat with ease. The midfield is a little more untested, but certainly not short of promise. Up front, Domenico Berardi – co-owned by Juventus – has scored 31 Serie A goals in two seasons. Stephan El Shaarawy has endured persistent injury setbacks over the past two years but has time on his side. Paolo Bandini

Italy

Japan

Not so long ago, everything seemed rosy for Japan – a best-ever showing at the 2010 World Cup was followed by fourth place at London 2012, and Shinji Kagawa’s exploits at Borussia Dortmund paved the way for a host of promising J. Leaguers to find opportunities overseas. But then the Kagawa generation froze in Brazil, Olympians stagnated on Bundesliga or Belgian benches, and the next wave is struggling. The U16, U19, and U23 national teams failed to make it beyond the last eight of their respective Asian championships last year and hence there is no Japanese representation at the U17 or U20 World Cups. It has thus been mooted that Japan might pin their hopes on the Brazilian starlet Caio, who attended high school in Chiba and has expressed interest in naturalisation. However, ambitious young players are at least now building their European careers at sides where they have a chance of playing – including Yoshinori Muto, who rejected Chelsea for Mainz. And the Samurai Blue have recently been buoyed by the rise of two men born in May 1992 and thus a few weeks too old for this list: the midfielder Gaku Shibasaki of Kashima Antlers and forward Takashi Usami of Gamba Osaka. Ben Mabley

Japan

Spain

Spain’s failure to qualify for this summer’s European Under-21 tournament denied them the chance to defend the title they had won in 2011 and 2013 and further undermined confidence in the national team following the senior side’s failure in Brazil. But despite some calls for a revolution, there is a still a belief in the Spanish model and a commitment to a particular way of playing which, while modified, remains reasonably firm. The generation of players aged under 23 is talented too, and many of them have already got first-team experience at the highest level, although there are more doubts at centre-back and in goal. The list is impressive, including footballers such as Javier Manquillo, Juan Bernat, Óliver Torres, Saúl, Denis Suárez, Marco Asensio, Samu Castillejo and Paco Alcácer – and some of those have not made it into this XI. Sid Lowe

Spain

Source: Theguardian.com

By:

Paolo Bandini,

Diego Fuchs,

Raphael Honigstein,

Daniel Taylor,

Fernando Duarte,

Ben Mabley,

Gary Al-Smith,

Julien Laurens,

Sid Lowe and

Marcela Mora y Araujo

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