Soccer: Whizz kids ready for big night out

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Ishmael Addo and Ricardo Machado de Oliveria are well aware that tonight's world under-17 soccer championship semifinal is much more than a simple soccer match.

Victory could be their ticket to easy street and a whole lot more. For the talented youngsters, there is no second prize.

The semifinal promises a classic contest between Ghana's sharpshooter Addo and lanky Brazilian defender Ricardo: no beg pardons, simply the task of ensuring it is their team who will win through to Saturday's final.

For many, tonight's clash of soccer's youth heavyweights at North Harbour Stadium is the final.

The "real" final - the square-off with the winners of the other semifinal in Christchurch between the United States and Australia this afternoon - is a distant formality.

Addo, five months younger than the player set to mark him tonight, progressed from kicking a ball on the beach or streets as a kid in Accra Tema to the leading goalscorer at the world championships.

He has had only 18 months of coaching but quickly revealed his natural talent.

"This is the first time I have been away from Africa," Addo said with an almost impish smile. "It is very different. Very exciting."

He has already progressed to the senior team at the champion Hearts of Oak Club. He is their top goalscorer.

While it is regarded as a professional competition, the money is "quite low" but for a 17-year-old in a country of 18 million people, "okay."

He, like all young players in the north-west African country, aspires to play professionally.

"I would like to go to Italy," he said. "My favourite teams are Lazio and Fiorentina."

To play at a rich club would bring stardom in his home country and help his family.

"There is real prestige for a player from Ghana to play for their country. My parents and my two brothers and two sisters are very proud. They are all waiting to welcome me when I go home," he said.

While Addo has had no contact with his family since leaving for New Zealand, Ricardo has.

"It is too far and too expensive for them to come to New Zealand," Ricardo said. "But I do call them once every day."

Including his time with his club side, Vasco da Gama, before the tour, Ricardo has been away from his Parana home for six months.

Moulding his game on his 1998 World Cup hero, Junior Baiano, Ricardo promises he will mark Addo tightly.

"Tomorrow [Addo] will stop scoring," Ricardo promised his coach, Carlos Cesar. "I have always played as a defender. My strengths are my skill and technique."

Like Addo, Ricardo comes from a family with no football background. To play the game he loves professionally means pride and the chance to earn some money for his family.

"All the players want to get some money for their families. That is the way it is in Brazil," he said.

But money will be the furthest thing from the minds of these two young lions when at 7.30 tonight they go into battle knowing a loss would end their championship hopes.