Yahoo Finance Young Germany star who won a coaching session with Gareth Southgate
When Jamal Musiala was aged 10 and given a training session by Gareth Southgate at his south London school, little did he know they would end up on opposing sides at Wembley.
The 18-year-old Germany star played for England at youth levels but committed to his birth nation earlier this year. And now he is hoping to break English hearts on Tuesday and help Germany reach the Euro 2020 quarter-finals.
Musiala became Germany’s youngest ever player at a major tournament on Wednesday when he came off the bench to help drag his side to a 2-2 draw with Hungary — and a massive last-16 tie against England.
His former teachers told the Standard how he excelled in the classroom and on the pitch. He came to London aged seven with his German mother and British-Nigerian father and attended Corpus Christi primary in New Malden and Whitgift in Croydon.
Musiala’s former PE teacher at Corpus Christi, Tony Mesourini, said: “He is such a humble and nice lad. He arrived speaking no English but learned extremely quickly. He is very bright and adapted very well.
“From the off it was clear he was a brilliant player, he had it all. We won everything in schools’ football with him.
“We did very well in the Premier League school tournament and as recognition the team was given a training session by Gareth Southgate. Gareth wouldn’t have known who he was but he will do now. How brilliant that they are now going to be up against each other in such a big game. It was big deal having such a top name in football here.”
His former coach at Whitgift, Andrew Martin, spoke of his “immense pride” at seeing Musiala storming onto the international scene. The independent school is renowned for nurturing talent in football, cricket and rugby.
Mr Martin said: “He never missed a game or a training session. He scored 126 goals in just 34 games. In one game we won 10-0 he scored a hat-trick within five minutes. He is such a respectful young man. When I speak to him he still calls me ‘Sir’.”
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