Meet 15 years old Filipino goal scorer with unbeatable ability!

Meet 15 years old Filipino goal scorer with unbeatable ability.

In 2016 I wrote that Philippines’ future in football looks bright with the coming of a prolific goal scorer. Here I’m again writing about the same prodigy that may answer the call of many Filipinos for homegrown talents in the National team.

Genesis Aaron ELefan (born 9 June 2002) is a Filipino youth footballer who plays as a forward for Philippine Youth Football League club Loyola Meralco FC and the Philippine National Youth team (Little Azkals) U15.

Aaron is a clear football talent that any scout, coach or manager who had seen him play will no doubt agree. His potential is endless. No wonder renowned universities in the Philippines are rallying for his signature even though he is at this writing on full scholarship with Arellano University.

In 2016, Aaron was among the Little Azkals U14 group that went to Brunei for the AFC festival of football and right now he is in the camp with the Philippines Little Azkals U15 preparing for Thailand.

Aaron was known by his former teammates at FC Metro Manila as ‘The Horse Power’ because of his strength, speed, and aggressiveness with the ball. He is a humble player but confident in his ability. His style of play does not rely only on one of his key strengths: his pace. But when he is in space, he uses his speed to beat his opponents. He is direct when facing the opponent goal and his football intelligence is outstanding for a player so young. The young star is currently the top scorer with 12 goals in the Philippine Youth Football League U15. But with the Philippine National team U15 in camp preparing for Thailand, the striker had to leave his club Meralco FC in the YFL quarter-final to join the rest of the Azkals group in Barotac—a move that may be a blow for his club in the remaining games in the competition.

Just last year, Aaron was denied a place in Meralco Sparks FC UFL U14 team after finishing Mabuhay Football League as a joint top scorer with FC Metro Manila. A setback which may be due to new teammates that did not know him during the trial.

Though somewhat disappointed, the young footballer took the failure as a motivation and started to train four times a day until he finally got that message from Ceres La Salle Youth to come for trial: a team he represented in the UFL Youth U14 in 2016 season and scored the winning goal as Ceres went home with a plate trophy on his return from Brunei for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U14 Festival of Football with the Little Azkals.

Aaron finally ends up in Meralco FC in the same 2016 after UFL Youth League season. His first test as a Meralco player came in Pilipinas Cup after NCAA competition with Arellano University. During the Cup, the goal-scoring machine had to sit on the bench in most of the games. But when the opportunity to play came, he finished it with flying colors by scoring a hat trick within few minutes in his first appearance. The performance gave him new friends in the club and a place in the first team from then on.

If football techniques are what scouts are looking for, Aaron has it. If it is tactical awareness, his humility and desire to learn new things set him apart. If it is the physical attributes such as speed and size, he has gotten it. At 15 years, he is already 5.8 ft. If it is temperament, his mental toughness and the confidence he has in his ability helps him push forward even when under pressure. The young goal scorer certainly has every potential to be a top player not only in the Philippines but worldwide with proper training and mentoring especially at this stage of his football development.