Whither our wonderkids like Yamal – a dearth of talent in Malaysia

THEY don’t call Lamine Yamal wonderkid for nothing.

At 16, the gifted Spaniard has created a buzz at the Euro 2024 by becoming the youngest player to see action in the tournament.

He danced his way through the tough Croatian defence and became the youngest to assist a goal in the tournament, helping his nation get their third and winning goal in the opening match last week. He is set to be the star of the future.

He is also the youngest to play for Barcelona, making his debut at the age of 15 – and has already scored seven goals! Yet, he will only be 17 on July 13, on the eve of the Euro final.

He has been compared to the great Messi when the latter was younger but some experts believe Yamal could even outdo the Argentinian star. So prodigious is Yamal - a gifted talent that doesn’t come very often.

In Malaysia too, there have been some exceptional young talents.

At 16, bowler Sin Li Jane was the Commonwealth Cham-pionships single gold medal winner in 2008 in Belfast. Even when she was aged between 13 and 15, she was already doing better than her seniors.

Now, at 30, she has created history by becoming the first to win the US Women’s Open title, usually dominated by professionals in States.

She has won every junior title, national, SEA Games, Asian and World Championships and many Opens.

Bowling legend Shalin Zulkifli was 14 when she won her first Asian Games gold in 1998 in Hiroshima while eight-time world champion Nicol ruled the scene since she was not even in her teens, starting off by winning the Under-12 British Open title.

Two-time world junior singles champion Goh Jin Wei was drafted into the national badminton team when she was 14 and nicked her first senior title at 15. This year, she will be representing Malaysia at the Paris Olympics.

Diver Bryan Nickson Lomas became world junior champion when he was 14 and qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games.

He was the youngest participant that year.

The last few years, though, Malaysia have been starved of new young talent. Sprinter Mohd Azeen Fahmi, 20, is probably one of the few who has made us smile with his exploits in the men’s 100m.

But where are our Yamals, Li Janes and and Jin Weis?

One of my colleagues, in jest, said they could still be playing guli (marbles). Malaysians are not maturing fast enough. Joke aside, we must accept the reality that we are short of talent. It’s so hard to find athletes with star quality at a young age.

Yesterday, our national Under-16 football players began their international debut in the AFF Cup in Indonesia and Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) technical director Scott O’ Donell was brutal in his assessment.

He said Malaysia needs to identify talents and must have more competitive leagues at the development stage to scout for them.

It’s really sad. People like Yamal, France’s Zaire Emery (18) and Turkey’s Arda Guler, Portugal’s Joao Neves, England’s Kobbie Mainoo (all 19) are playing at the Euros and here we are still talking about starting quality leagues.

In badminton too, we are scraping the barrel for fresh talent. The transition from a junior to senior is flawed big time. Some talents make the breakthrough but they don’t last long. They either sink into oblivion or end their careers due to injuries.

What is wrong with our talent development? Are we not blessed with gifted athletes? Or are we poor in managing talents?

One of my good friends – a cricket official – was ruthless in his opinion. He said the current breed of juniors crumble easily under pressure.

“They are given everything, the best facilities, best support and given good allowances. They have the skills and talents but are not mentally strong,” he said.

I’ve heard this same reasoning from other sports coaches and managers too.

When Datuk Misbun Sidek was coaching the badminton juniors, some could not cope with his gruelling training sessions. Some joked that they have more muscles in their thumbs and fingers as they spend more time on the handphones and gadgets.

Yamal started when he was seven. Coming from a family that was poor, football was a way out of poverty.

And today, the Spanish teen sensation is reaping the fruits of his hard work, dedication and full devotion to the game.

Are our youngsters too pampered to have the grit needed to make it big? And are there youngsters out there ready to make the painstaking journey to be the country’s beacon of hope, or have they all gone soft?

I do hope we can find some wonderkids – and real soon.