Youssoufa Moukoko

Youssoufa Moukoko (born 20 November 2004) is a footballer who currently plays in the U19 team for Borussia Dortmund. He is known for his scoring ability.[1] Born in Cameroon, Moukoko represents Germany internationally.

Youssoufa Moukoko
Personal information
Full name Youssoufa Moukoko
Date of birth (2004-11-20) 20 November 2004
Place of birth Yaoundé, Cameroon
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Borussia Dortmund
Number 18
Youth career
Years Team
2014–2016 St. Pauli
2016– Borussia Dortmund
National team‡
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017 Germany U16 4 (3)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:01, 16 May 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Moukoko played in the under-13 team of FC St. Pauli from 2014 to 2016 and scored 23 goals in 13 games as a striker. In July 2016, Moukoko was transferred to Borussia Dortmund's youth academy. He played as the only 13-year-old in the Under 17 Bundesliga for Dortmund. Moukoko moved up to the under-19 team for the 2019-20 season at the age of 14, scoring six goals in his first match in the Under 19 Bundesliga in a 9-2 win against Wuppertaler SV.[2] He completed his first UEFA Youth League match on 17 September 2019 against FC Barcelona, becoming the youngest player to be fielded in this competition.[3] In a game against Inter Milan, the striker scored the 1-0 goal on 23 October of the same year, making him the youngest scorer in the Youth League.[4]

Breakthrough at Dortmund

Since January 2020, Moukoko has also been allowed to train with BVB's senior team under Lucien Favre.[5] As the previous DFB age restrictions were changed in 2020, the earliest debut in the Bundesliga is on 20 November 2020 (his 16th birthday).[6]

International career

Moukoko played for the German U16 national team for the first time on September 11, 2017 in a 3-1 victory over Austria. Two days later, in his second match against the same opponent, he scored both goals for Germany in a 2-1 victory. At that time he was the youngest player in the U16 national team. In order to protect Moukoko from too much media attention, the BVB and DFB decided not to continue using him in selected teams for the time being.[7]

Sponsorship

Moukoko has had an advertising contract worth millions with the sporting goods manufacturer Nike since 2019.[8]

Age controversy

Moukoko, who is called a child prodigy because of his great on-field performance, often has to struggle with age controversy. The question of whether his age is true or not is a matter of public debate and has been the subject of intense debate in the German sports press.[9] Moukoko's father repeatedly pointed out the authenticity of his son's birth certificate in numerous interviews and is proved by official documents.[10]

Family

In the first ten years of his life, Moukoko grew up with his grandparents in Cameroon's capital Yaoundé in an area, which was predominantly Muslim. His father (* 1951), who has lived in Hamburg as a German citizen since the 1990s, brought his son to Germany in the summer of 2014. Youssoufa Moukoko has four siblings.[11] Youssoufa Moukoko's older brother Borel has been playing since 2019 for Schwarz-Weiß Essen.

References
  1. Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "Youssoufa Moukoko: Borussia Dortmund's star in the making | DW | 12.08.2019". DW.COM. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  2. Benjamaa, Mostafa (2019-08-12). "Youssoufa Moukoko Scores 6 Goals in BVB U19 Debut". Ultimate Borussia. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  3. Wöckener, Lutz (2019-09-17). "Debüt in der Youth League: Moukoko führt BVB zum Sieg über den FC Barcelona". DIE WELT (in German). Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  4. UEFA.com. "Internazionale-Dortmund | UEFA Youth League". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  5. Germany, RevierSport, Essen (2019-12-26). "BVB-Jahrhunderttalent Moukoko darf bei den Profis mittrainieren". Reviersport (in German). Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  6. "Dortmund remaining cautious over Youssoufa Moukoko's development". 9 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  7. "Nur zwei Spieler in DFB-Kadern". nachwuchs.bvb.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  8. Sport1.de. "BVB: Youssoufa Moukoko bekommt Millionen-Vertrag mit Nike". Sport1.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  9. ONLINE, RP. "Große Zweifel an Alter von Moukoko: Ist dieses BVB-Wunderkind wirklich erst zwölf?". RP ONLINE (in German). Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  10. "Borussia Dortmund: Dokumente belegen Alter von Moukoko | Goal.com". www.goal.com (in German). Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  11. Müller, Oliver (2017-10-14). "BVB: Die rätselhafte Spur des Wunderkindes Youssoufa Moukoko". DIE WELT. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
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