World Cup 2018: 5 lesser known youngsters to watch out for
Every four years, the whole world comes together to celebrate the beautiful game. A fantastic performance at the World Cup can change the fortunes of a player or maybe a spectacular goal can give someone instant fame.
Remember the 2010 FIFA World Cup? A relatively unknown Javier Hernandez came off the bench against France and broke the deadlock to help his country win all three points. During the same tournament, Keisuke Honda of Japan caught the eye with his spectacular skills and wonderful free-kick against Denmark.
Such spectacular moments at the World Cup can do wonders for young players and some brilliant youngsters are going to light up the FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Everyone knows about the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Timo Werner, Gabriel Jesus and Marcus Rashford. So we are not going to discuss prodigies who play for some of Europe’s biggest clubs. We are going to introduce you to some of the hidden gems.
Notable exclusions: Fyodor Chalov (Russia), Luka Jovic (Serbia), Maxi Gomez (Uruguay), Ruben Dias (Portugal), Amine Harit (Morocco) and Ola Aina (Nigeria)
#5 Cristian Pavon (Argentina)
Argentina were runners-up at the previous World Cup, but it’s still difficult to list them as favourites to win the World Cup with the likes of Germany, France, Brazil and Spain. However, the Argentina attack is one of the best on paper at least.
Led by Lionel Messi, the Argentine attack features the likes of Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Angel Di Maria and Paulo Dybala. However, the wild card in this attack is the 22-year-old winger, Cristian Pavon.
The Boca Juniors player made his debut for Argentina last year against Russia and assisted the only goal of the game scored by Aguero. He also assisted one of the two goals in a 4-2 defeat to Nigeria during the same international break.
Pavon, who has five caps for Albiceleste, is an excellent dribbler with an eye for a pass and the ability to score from distance.
He has won back to back league titles in Argentina with Boca Juniors and has been picked for the World Cup on the back of an impressive season during which he scored 6 goals and assisted 11 goals in 26 Primera División games.
Pavon can provide width to the Argentina attack and is one of the very few natural wide players in their squad for the World Cup. He may not be an automatic starter, but he is more than capable of producing an impact off the bench.