Scotland’s qualifying campaign for the World Cup in 2014 has gotten off to a terrible start: sitting at the bottom of the group with two points led to Craig Levein’s sacking as manager, means Billy Stark leads the Scots into the game against Luxembourg.
All this means qualification to the World Cup in Brazil is improbable, maybe even impossible, but one man (or should I say boy) who is keen to play with Scotland at a World Cup in the near future is 16-year-old Jack Harper.
The youngster has not been on the ranks of Real Madrid for a year now, and has been rewarded for his fine performances for the Spanish giants’ Castilla side with a call up to the Scotland Under-17 side.
A Scot playing at Real Madrid? Surely this can’t be right.
Harper was born and bred in Spain, playing youth tournaments for Almeria and Sevilla before successfully gaining a Real Madrid contract after a trial, and the tricky winger/attacking midfielder has already been tipped for a great future at both club, and national level.
Madrid coach Santiago Sanchez said that Harper was “unique” and that:
“He has a lot of talent and, [and] while he has a lot of developing to do, I really believe he will play for Real Madrid in years to come.”
Harper is not the only youngster on the ranks of a big club outside of Scotland. Somalian born Islam Feruz joined Chelsea last summer from Celtic, and, at the age of 17, has already earned an under-21 call up for Scotland. The striker has scored goals at every level he’s played at, and has – like Harper – been tipped for the top by coaches of club and country.
It is Harper who grabs most of the media attention though, in my view quite rightly; he is certainly an extremely exciting prospect for all Scotland fans, and given the club he’s at, probably the most exciting prospect in terms of improbability they’ve ever had.
No pressure then.