Near enough every season since his emergence, there’s been a poor soul dubbed football’s ‘next Lionel Messi’. But this time, Argentina might actually have found the heir to his throne.
Already donning the number 10 shirt for La Albiceleste, rounding defenders and goalkeepers like it’s nobody’s business and scoring improbable goals that you can only simply scratch your head at, the latest in a long line of players called the ‘next Messi’ has taken the under-17 World Cup by storm.
And crucially, he’s become the first Argentine since Messi himself back in 2012 to score a hat-trick against arch-rivals Brazil.
Claudio ‘Diablito’ Echeverri already has the world at his feet and he’s not even old enough to buy himself a copy of the new Call of Duty. But when you’re ripping it up for River Plate, owning the U17 World Cup and putting the world’s eyes on you, a copy of Call of Duty probably isn’t all that important.
While he might not be able to rack up ridiculous killstreaks and land quickscopes that would send YouTube into frenzy back in 2010, Echeverri has demonstrated exquisite talent in other areas.
He’s probably not even old enough to know what a quickscope is, which is almost as sickening as his ability on the ball.
Born in Resistencia, the largest city in Argentina’s Chaco province, Echeverri signed for River Plate in 2016 aged 11 and has been nurturing a wicked potential ever since, alongside fellow Argentine prospect Agustin Ruberto – another teen destined for greatness.
