Number of characters|1314 characters
Recommended reading time|4 minutes
In the past few days, an 18-year-old Irish high school striker has given a new meaning to the long-awaited "Ferguson Time" - his name is Evan Ferguson.
On 22 March, in Ireland's 3–2 home win over Latvia, Evan Ferguson scored his first national team start and first national team goal. And his age of 18 years and 154 days is enough to go down in the history of the Irish national team: he became the youngest Irish goalscorer since October 1998, and only Kevin O'Franagan in November 1937 can score in his first national starting game at an even younger age (18 years, 150 days).
After enjoying a record night for five days, Ferguson, who started in succession, attacked the French backline in the European Championship qualifiers, failing to score a goal or assist, but in 65 minutes of appearance, the Irish youngster's immediate prowess was already impressive.
In this way, at the end of the international break, the pursuit and attention of Evan Ferguson is finally no longer limited to Premier League Brighton fans and the player community of the game "Football Manager".
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Evan Ferguson was influenced by football culture from an early age, and his father, Barry Ferguson, was also a professional and played as a central defender, debuting at Coventry City and playing for a number of English and Irish teams. As a child, even with a 60-mile round trip to every training or competition, little Evan insisted on entering Dublin's famous St Kevin Boys' Academy, following in the footsteps of legendary predecessors Liam Brady and Duff.
When little Evan was 12 years old, coach Alan Matthews, who knew the Ferguson family, saw the signs: "This kid is tall, has speed, and has balanced bipedals. His style of play reminds me of Van Basten, not only as a goal-scoring machine, but also with a very mature tactical literacy. Anyway, he really has everything. Just two years later, the talented Ferguson was transferred to the coaching staff of Irish giants Bohemian and made his career debut at the "young age" of 14 years, 11 months and 1 day.
Now it seems that this is the beginning of Evan Ferguson's fame, from his pre-season warm-up game to Chelsea, to his smooth appearance in the Irish league, his name has gradually been noticed by many Premier League clubs. Brighton, which has been rejuvenated in recent years, is one of them. Former Brighton Academy coach Mark Beard said: 'In our opinion, Ferguson's debut against Chelsea was already the worst thing that happened. This made many people notice his presence. ”
Before signing with Brighton in January 2021, Evan Ferguson was very close to Liverpool, where he went on several tryouts and won the attention of the Premier League giants. However, after much weighing, Ferguson finally chose the first Premier League station of his career as the well-appointed Brighton. In this regard, the Irish center once explained: "Liverpool is certainly a top club, but everyone knows that many young players will get lost in the big teams and cannot get a chance to play in the first team. So, I asked myself at the time – do you really want to go through that kind of playing for two years in the Under-18s, then going to the Under-23s and finally having to find another home? ”
So, in order to gain a smoother foothold in the Premier League, Evan Ferguson wore the Brighton shirt. His choice proved to be very reasonable, and after more than a year of adaptation, the label of "youngest Premier League goalscorer in the history of Ireland and Brighton" and relatively consistent first-team playing time have been firmly grasped by him.
As one of the first coaches in the Brighton squad to come into contact with the Irish youngster, Beard still remembers their first training session together: "At the time, he asked for a little extra practice, and we practiced shooting together. He's really the kind of all-around centre-forward, with two feet, headers, volleys and even goals from the back. I've been testing him, but he has no weaknesses. In more than ten minutes of practice, the two goalkeepers failed to save any of his shots. ”
With only three months since Evan Ferguson was promoted to the first team from Brighton's Under-21s, Brighton's 20 goals and 4 assists in 20 games so far in his career are indeed impressive enough, but the true appearance of Europe's top game has not yet been fully revealed. In the game "Football Manager 2023", the high-potential Irish genius can easily cash in on his talent, but when it comes to the real world without saving and reading, there are many, many hurdles to overcome.