Precocious Feruz blazes a historic trail for Scotland

Published on Monday 19 October 2009 22:32

CHAMPIONS League night in Glasgow, but a historic one could unfold this evening in Dunfermline as far as the future prospects for Scottish football are concerned.

It's a long way from Somalia to East End Park, but Islam Feruz has made short work of an incredible journey. Aged just 14, he is line to make his debut for the Scotland Under-17 side against Cyprus, becoming the first player in this country to take advantage of a change in Fifa rules about eligibility.

Having been educated here for more than five years, he has accepted an invitation to play for Scotland despite not having an ounce of Scottish blood in his body. The Scottish Football Association trumpeted this on their official website last week. But, understandably reluctant to expose the teenager to further media glare, the SFA have now thrown a protective blanket around the striker. Feruz has years ahead of him to explain how it felt to land in Scotland as an immigrant eight years ago, although it is possible he might not even remember. More liable to have had an impact are the high flats of Castlemilk, where he and his family were originally housed by the authorities.

Indeed, his skills were spotted by Celtic scout John Simpson when he was a ten-year-old playing at Castlemilk sports centre. This was just four years ago. As well as having already played for the Celtic Under-19 side, Feruz has now earned international recognition by his adopted country. "When I gave him the invitation to come to Scotland the first thing he said was that he would be really honoured, and his family would be really honoured," said Ross Mathie yesterday. "That speaks volumes for him."

The Under-17 manager wishes to minimise the pressure bearing down on Feruz's young shoulders. But he acknowledged "the magnitude of the story" yesterday. Feruz would have attracted attention even without the Somalia angle, the player's colour and also the high-profile change in Fifa laws which means he qualifies for Scotland. Rangers' John Fleck was the last Scotland player to be so notably precocious. The Rangers midfielder was just 13 when he played for the Scotland Under-16 side. Mathie is confident Feruz can prosper, having already been exposed to senior age group teams at Celtic. In May he also turned out in front of over 20,000 supporters in a tribute game for Tommy Burns between the Celtic first team and a Celtic select XI. Burns, who died last year, had taken Feruz under his wing, and stepped in to help fight the threat of deportation.

It is possible Feruz will take a moment to think of Burns this evening if he makes his Scotland bow. But much of the praise must go to Feruz himself. He has adapted not only to Scottish football, but also Scottish life. He now speaks with a Scottish accent, and it is hoped he will continue to pledge his allegiance to Scotland. Nothing, though, can be taken for granted. Not his continued loyalty, nor his currently thrilling pace of development.

"As with all the boys in the squad, we are dealing with potential at this level, so who knows what might happen?" admitted Mathie. "Some players could get a bad injury and never reach their potential and others who are not in the squad, maybe two years down the line will get an international call-up.

"(Islam] plays with Celtic Under-17s and trains with the Under-19s. One of the problems at his own age level is that he is not challenged enough. He is such a talented player. The way they have tried to challenge him at other age levels has been a credit to Celtic."

Such comments do little to diminish interest in the player. Many will be drawn to East End Park tonight for no other reason than to see Feruz. Although Mathie stressed he had not yet picked his side to face Cyprus in the opening game of a four-team European Qualifying tournament, it would be perverse of him not to let Feruz taste at least some action. Mathie's side have two further games this week, against Georgia on Thursday and then favourites Portugal on Sunday. Scotland need to finish in the top two to qualify.

Sadly, Aberdeen refused to let Fraser Fyvie, the captain, preview the encounters. Instead, an embarrassed Mathie introduced Graeme MacGregor of Bolton Wanderers and Connor Ramsay, who made a six-minute debut for St Mirren on Saturday, to reporters. Feruz's absence was to be expected, but Fyvie has already broken into the Aberdeen first team.

Mathie made a point of acknowledging the sensitive handling of the Feruz tale thus far. "It's been a great story and most of the media has reported it very well," he said. "They have been very understanding because of his age. He is now part of the group and, hopefully, the football will do the talking."