Next year being a Fifa World Cup season, there will not be a shortage of players hoping to wear their national team colours in
Russia.
Amath Ndiaye, the 21-year-old Getafe starlet, will be among those waiting in the wings in case the slim chance of a call-up is presented.
He wouldn’t be out of place in a Senegalese side that finished unbeaten in Group D of their World Cup qualification alongside Burkina Faso, Cape Verde and South Africa.
The Lions of Teranga are overloaded with talent, too - Sadio Mane of Liverpool, Kalidou Koulibaly at Napoli and captain Cheikhou Kouyate at West Ham, all coached by a popular figure in Aliou Cisse.
“That’s a great team,” Ndiaye, a winger who can also play as a central striker, said following Getafe’s 2-0 win over bottom of the log Las Palmas in a LaLiga clash on Wednesday night.
“I think they will do really well at the World Cup next year.”
A product of Atletico Madrid’s youth set up, Ndiaye only really got his breakthrough while on loan at Tenerife last season, scoring 13 goals in 41 domestic matches.
Getafe were impressed and offered him a five-year contract, which he accepted.
“I am really happy to have scored my second goal for the team,” he said of his well-taken strike to give the home side a 2-0 lead in the first half.
“It’s what I needed in this team (to continue to play well). I am really happy about that. The national team is following all my games since I have been here, but I am not thinking about the World Cup now. I want to focus on what my team needs. I really haven’t spoken to anybody from the national team, but I am waiting for my turn and when it comes I am going to take advantage of that.”
Getafe are just three places away from a Champions League spot according to their LaLiga log at the moment, which was boosted by the win over Las Palmas in their final game for 2017.
But there’s plenty of football still to be played - and adequate time for Ndiaye to impress the seemingly hard to please Cisse before Russia.
*Mazola Molefe is a guest of LaLiga in Spain ahead of tomorrow’s El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona