At 17 years and 350 days, Youssoufa Moukoko’s first goal against Bochum on Saturday afternoon made him the youngest player to score 10 Bundesliga goals ahead of Florian Wirtz and Lukas Podolski. Speaking after the game, Moukoko remained humble, thanking his teammates.
“Records are there to be broken,” said Moukoko. “I’m really happy but I also have the team to thank for it. I wouldn’t have scored those goals without them.” Speaking to Ruhr Nachrichten, Nico Schlotterbeck added: “I told him a couple of weeks ago to shoot more. He should keep trying, even if the other players make a gesture that he shouldn’t do it.”
Moukoko opened the scoring in the eighth minute in the Revierderby against Bochum, cutting inside onto his favoured left foot, unleashing a shot that crashed in off of the crossbar. Speaking to BVB TV, Moukoko said: “For my first goal, I didn’t even see that the ball had gone in; I just heard the people make a noise. For the second goal, I had previously been given the information by Edin that the goalkeeper often stands in front of the penalty area. I chipped the ball – and then it went in.”
With the recent injury to Timo Werner, ruling him out of the World Cup, Moukoko could be with a shout of making Hansi Flick’s Germany squad, more so given nations can name a 26-man squad. With 10 goal contributions (6 goals, 4 assists) in 12 Bundesliga games this season, Moukoko wouldn’t be out of place.
GGFN | Daniel Pinder
