Youssoufa Moukoko shoots the German U21 national team to victory in Poland, after which his coach wishes two things for the striker: happiness and peace. But Moukoko torpedoed the matter of calm immediately.
U21 national coach Antonio Di Salvo could be very satisfied with his striker: Youssoufa Moukoko scored twice in the 2-1 win against Poland, the only 17-year-old from Dortmund delivered a gala in his fourth game for the oldest DFB youth team. “Now he should be happy that the season ended like this,” demanded Di Salvo after the last qualifying match for the U21 European Championship from Moukoko. And the former professional appealed to the German professional football business and the interested media landscape: “It is important to let Youssoufa work in peace, to let him mature in peace.”
On matchday 13 of the 2020/21 season, Moukoko became the youngest goalscorer in the long history of the Bundesliga in the 60th minute of BVB’s game at Union Berlin. The striker was 16 years and 28 days old, and the hype that had built up enormously in the weeks leading up to the teenager’s Bundesliga debut took on gigantic proportions. “Child prodigy” Moukoko, so it was thought in many places, would take the Bundesliga by storm, it just had to go on like this. But things turned out differently, of course, the boy was only 16 years and 28 days old. The first goal was followed by two more in 2021 at the end of the season. Above all, however, injuries repeatedly slowed the rise of the hopeful, who was allowed to play on the field, especially in short assignments.
It didn’t go up and up fast enough – and that annoyed many more and more. The now former BVB coach Marco Rose had already asked for patience in the final spurt of the season – from everyone involved. “Do you know how old the boy is? He’s 17. Then it’s written: Youssoufa Moukoko’s crash. If I’d had to endure or read something like that when I was 17, I don’t know how I would have felt,” said Rose in May. He would like “that the boy would be allowed to be 17 and develop. And not tie any blocks to his leg, build up pressure or give the club respect.”
The problem with the whole complex is: Moukoko is impatient himself, his career planning is not going fast enough from the point of view of the goalscorer who is slowed down in his club. After all, Moukoko played 16 Bundesliga games last season, but he was only on the pitch for a total of 210 minutes. After all, he used it for two goals and two assists.
That’s not enough for him, everything. Moukoko said he had to learn to deal with the great pressure in the professional business. “I think I can handle it. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone, just myself. I learned that,” he told Kicker. Now he wants to show what he has learned more regularly. The 17-year-old never left any doubts about that. After the last game of the season against Hertha BSC, he caused a stir via Snapchat with photos and messages. “After six years of wonderful moments, I have to say goodbye,” it said, among other things. “Youssoufa’s messages were worded in an ignorant way. He apparently wanted to thank his retiring colleagues,” future sports director Sebastian Kehl desperately tried to capture the statements again.
Now Moukoko used his own gala in the DFB jersey to refer his national coach’s appeal to the realm of pious wishes. Yes, the goal scorer was happy at first, but things aren’t getting any better with the calm: the striker provided an Instagram post about the game that shows him sending a thank you to the sky after the celebration
Moukoko quickly gave the “kicker” an interpretation aid himself: In the U21s he scored six goals in four games – according to the striker also thanks to coach Antonio Di Salvo. “My role is to score goals,” he said. “Here I get the confidence of the coach. He told me from the start: ‘I’m counting on you.’ That gave me a lot of confidence.” His contract with BVB expires in 2023, and according to managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke, the club would like to extend it with Moukoko. However, the negotiations should stall. “Now I have a break and can catch my breath, and then I can fully attack next season,” said Moukoko on vacation. For Borussia Dortmund, this is a promise and a threat at the same time.
