132-yr-old football club Grasshoppers deserves more respect than it is getting

Born in a low-income London suburb, Jadon Sancho honed his game by playing in back alleys and side streets.

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Aged seven, Sancho joined Watford’s youth system, where his dribbling ability first came to light. Former coaches have spoken about how he never shied away from the challenge of playing above his age group.

Few English footballers opt to ply their trade in Europe, but Sancho has been conditioned to the ordeals of travel. Aged 12, he became a boarder at Watford’s Academy, shunning the four hour commute to Uxbridge that was a parMeet Jadon Sancho, the first footballer at 19 to represent England’s senior team of his daily routine.

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After seven years at Watford, Sancho’s head was turned by an offer from Manchester City. In the company of pedigreed foreign players, his game developed further, and he began to catch the eye of foreign clubs.

Despite Pep Guardiola’s best efforts at convincing him to stay, Sancho was wary of becoming a benchwarmer at the Emirates Stadium. He signed for Borussia Dortmund in 2017.

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After a relatively slow first season, he managed to win the confidence of the manager and ingratiate himself with senior players like Marco Reus and Mario Götze.

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In October 2018, Sancho netted against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, making him the first Englishman to score for a non-British team in the competition since David Beckham’s curling free-kick for Real Madrid in 2005.

With the season far from over, Sancho claimed yet another personal milestone in February when he broke a long-standing Bundesliga record. He bettered Lukas Podolski’s exploits from the 2003/04 season to become the youngest player in Germany’s top flight to score nine league goals and provide over 10 assists.

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On March 22, 2019, a couple of days before his 19th birthday, Sancho was handed his first competitive start for the Three Lions by manager Gareth Southgate. He received a standing ovation at the final whistle after notching two assists against the Czech Republic at London’s Wembley Stadium.

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