AKA Salzburg’s Kenneth Oghenetejiri Adejenughure won the Golden Ball Award after a stellar performance at the 84th Blue Star / FIFA Youth Cup in Zurich, Switzerland.
Oghenetejiri, 17, played a crucial role in his team’s success at the international youth tournament. He was named alongside Silas Huber or FC Zurich who won the Golden Glove award while the FairPlay award went to RC Strasbourg.
Salzburg beat FC Zurich in the final to claim the title.
The Austrian-Nigerian started playing for First Vienna Academy in 2015 before moving to Rapid Vienna in the 2018/2019 season. He joined Salzburg U15 a year later and has since progressed to the U18. Oghenetejiri has also featured for Austria at U17 level.
Due to his incredible ability, his coach and scouts labelled him a lethal finisher and terror for many defenders.
“He is an exceptional striker due to his athletic ability – he is fast and strong,” Martin Scherb, Coach of Austria’s U17 told Laola1.at in an interview in March this year.
“Everyone is afraid of him, every team has huge respect. When he doesn’t score the goals himself, he creates space or takes penalties, he gets fouled a lot but stays calm. He has recently made a huge leap.”
At the UEFA U17 Championship qualification, his goals were important to the progress of the Austrian youth side as he scored three out of four to help his team secure a spot in the tournament set to take place later this month in Cyprus.
His impressive national team record includes four goals from eight games in the U17s; eight out of eight for the U16s and one out of six at U15 level.
In the 2023/2024 OFB Jugendliga U18 season, Oghenetejiri has notched 16 goals from 19 games thus far.
