Welcome to One to Watch, a new recurring segment that will chronicle some young rising stars in the world that you may not have heard of (yet), but that you should absolutely check out.
While people like Ronald Acuna, Zion Williamson and Mal Pugh are absolute must watches, they are pretty well known to the casual sports fan, so they won’t be featured here going forward. Instead, in this segment I will be writing about some of my favorite young athletes that you may not know about. It may be pretty depressing because while they’re off scoring goals and winning games all across the world, they are still younger than me.
Our first highlighted athlete is an unsung star of my favorite game of the Women’s World Cup this summer. France-Brazil was a really closely fought match that ended 2-1 for France’s Les Bleues after extra time. The introduction of substitute Delphine Cascarino for starting striker and scorer of the opening goal Valerie Gauvin at the end of regular time made a massive difference in the game’s momentum. Cascarino really stretched Brazil with her incredible speed and particularly after French Captain Amandine Henry’s winning goal. Brazil could not commit everyone forward without risking giving up a counter attacking opportunity. Even then she was able to terrorize Brazil’s defense on a few occasions. This isn’t the first time she has impacted a major match with fresh legs. In the 2018 Women’s Champions League Final she drew a red card in extra time with her team down a goal. Lyon would end up scoring 4 unanswered goals to win the title.
One of the most impressive aspects of her play is that she consistently gets playtime, even at such a young age. At just 21 she starred in a Champions League Final. That is impressive as it is, but when you look at the attackers that Lyon has had since she made the team in 2015 it’s even more incredible. The list includes Alex Morgan (you might have heard of her), France legends Louisa Necib and Eugenie Le Sommer, World Cup finalist Shanice van de Sanden, German star Dzsenifer Marozsan and 2018 Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg. That is an absurd amount of talent and Delphine Cascarino has been able to compete against all of them for game time. This Lyon team is possibly the best dynasty of the past fifteen years. Maybe even better than the Patriots. Since 2007 they have won every league title- no simple feat considering the PSG women have reached the Women’s Champions League final twice in five seasons. Speaking of the Champions League, Lyon have won six titles since 2011, including the last four. In that time frame, 2014 and 2015 were the only years they did not make the final- finishing as runners up in 2010 and 2013. For a team that dominant, a 17 year old debutante is rare enough. It is even more rare still that a young player can consistently have such an important role.
She’s a local kid too, hailing from Saint-Priest, a suburb of Lyon, France’s third largest city. Her twin sister Estelle, also a French international, but a defender, made her debut in the same season. However, Estelle found first team opportunities limited at Lyon and subsequently transferred to Paris; in Summer 2019, she signed for Bordeaux. And Estelle is no slouch either. A coach once had to switch Delphine onto the other wing because she couldn’t get past her sister. I would certainly anticipate Estelle having a role in the squad in 2023, even with all of the talented French fullbacks out there. She already has one appearance to her name at just 22. Delphine has already made 16 appearances for the senior France team, scoring three goals, including this beauty last month.
She can play anywhere across the front line, but is most comfortable on the right. A naturally left footed player who uses speed and cutting inside onto her favored foot from the right to terrorize outside defenders makes Cascarino certainly a prospect to watch. France was probably the biggest threat to the US in the 2019 World Cup, and with many of their better players under the age of 30, they will certainly be in a similar position in 2023. In fact quite a few of them have starred at youth World Cups and European Championships. Delphine Cascarino was the youngest player on the winning squad at the 2017 u17 World Cup, netting a penalty in a quarterfinal shootout. She scored twice as France finished as runners up in the 2016 u20 tournament, and she won the 2016 u19 European Championship. Playing on the best club team in the world, with plenty of room to grow as an attacker between now and 2023, the USWNT and everyone else should be warned, because Delphine Cascarino is absolutely one to watch.
Le futur, c’est maintenant pour les Bleues. Yeah I speak French. People from Boston can be cultured too.
