U-17 World Cup: Souleymane Coulibaly, Star of the Future

The U-17 World Cup is always a fun tournament to watch. Unless you are a true fanatic about your nation and religiously go from city to city scouting young talent, you probably are not familiar with a single player. But it's kind of like March Madness—the fun is in discovering prospects and weighing in with your friends with predictions of who will make an impact at the next level.

For the the major clubs around the world, this tournament is their NFL combine. Hundreds of scouts from teams on all continents have converged on Mexico to find the players that will bring their side glory in this decade and beyond.

The kids are well aware of this and know that the tournament provides them with an opportunity that they had never had before. Think of it as a working job interview of sorts. They need to prove they can perform under the most pressing of circumstances and look good doing it. Of the 500 trying out, only a few will get the call and even then it is only for a trial.

But of all the participants perhaps no one understood this or at least took it to heart as much as the Ivory Coast's Souleymane Couliblay.

If you have watched one game of this tournament then you have probably heard his name before. And if you have watched on of the Ivory Coast's game then you have seen Coulibaly score.

The 16-year-old's play has not been good or great or even phenomenal—it has been unprecedented. In the three group stage games the Ivory Coast has scored eight goals and Coulibaly claims all of them. He is only one goal away from tying Frenchman Florent Sinama Pongolle's record for most goals in the tournament at nine. And at this rate the only thing keeping him from crushing that mark would be if the African nation was eliminated from the tournament.

The paragraph above is enough to put on the top of every scouts watch list, but to actually watch him play is even more impressive. His eight goals have shown everything you could ask for in a super star striker:

1) Power: Shot from outside the 18-yard box against Denmark.

2) Strength: Fought off Danish defender and scored from sharp angle.

3) Penalty: Calmly sent the goalie the wrong way against Denmark.

4) Right place at the right time: Tapped in a rebound in the six-yard box.

5) Placement: Gathered the ball in the box and slotted it in the far corner.

6) Goal out of nothing: Broke the ankles of a Brazilian defender on the left edge of the box, then roofed the ball over the head of the goalie from a sharp angle.

7) Well-timed runs: Beat the offside trap and for an easy poke in around the goalie.

8) Flair: An overhead bicycle off a corner.

Coulibaly currently is signed to the recently promoted Italian side AC Siena. He has played in a handful of games there for the U-19 team and has only one goal, but playing against kids who are three years older than he is, he can be forgiven.

His performance in Mexico has already gotten the attention of major clubs in Europe, most notably that of Real Madrid's. They have already proclaimed that they plan to buy the youngster once the tournament ends. But if he continues to play the way he has others will probably come calling in attempts to out bid the Spanish giants.

Mourinho would be keen to see him in the Bernabeu camp as he has often been compared to a previous signing of the Special One's, Didier Drogba. His innate ability for finding the goal, as well as the inherent national connection, has the press deeming him the "new Didier Drogba." Though he is competing for that title with another highly rated Chelsea prospect, Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku.

Coulibaly is aware of the hype surrounding his play, but still remains humble (or at least political) in the situation. When asked about where he will be following the tournament, he told reporters, "I don't know what my future holds. I am focused on the World Cup, after that we will see what happens."

The Ivory Coast plays Group B runner-up France today in Queretaro at 6 p.m. local time in the first knock out round. France has allowed only two goals thus far making them one of the better defensive sides in the tournament.

If Coulibaly wants to break the record for goals in the tournament, he needs only (by his standards) two tonight. But if he wants to continue to show why is the best youngster in the game today and have his stock rise even more, he needs to prove that he is a winner first and foremost.