Before last Saturday evening, only those with a special interest in youth football at Mallorca and Malaga would have been aware of the existence of Fabrice Olinga. All that changed with just six minutes remaining of ‘los boquerones’ season opener at Celta de Vigo, when the second half substitute bundled the ball home from close range to become the youngest ever La Liga goalscorer, just 99 days after his 16th birthday. However the Cameroonian striker who first set the youngster on the road to stardom is very much more of a household name for his goalscoring exploits over the last decade.



Samuel Eto’o is perhaps best known for his glorious years at Barcelona and Inter Milan, before succumbing to the lure of the many millions on offer at Anzhi Makhachkala last summer. It is easy to forget that it was his impressive displays for Mallorca which earned him the move to the Catalan giants in the summer of 2004, and by then the wheels had already been set in motion for the Eto’o Foundation, which officially opened in March 2006. This organization scouts young talent from all over Cameroon, and the cream of the crop are then generally invited to make the journey to either Mallorca or Barcelona to try their luck on a bigger stage.



Olinga’s first appearance on the Spanish mainland came at the age of just twelve, when he was one of the stars of the Costa Blanca Cup in Benidorm. By January 2009 he had arrived in Mallorca, where he spent two and a half years confounding his coaches by consistently turning in match winning performances against older players. Malaga signed him last summer, and he had another excellent season playing mainly for their ‘filial’ team, again comprised of players several years older than him.



Even so there was little to suggest that Olinga’s first appearance on the first team bench would be anything other than a chance to savor the atmosphere, given that he has not even kicked a ball for the reserve team yet. All that changed with half an hour to go in the Estadio Balaidos when he replaced, and the rest, as they say, is history. It is asking a lot of any player to become a consistent performer in top flight football at such a young age (although Iker Muniain has made a pretty good job of it over the last few seasons), but given the financial problems at Malaga and this teenager’s seemingly fearless nature, he may yet become one of the stars of this and many La Liga seasons to come.