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FIFA U-17 World Cup: Facts on England's hat-trick hero - Rhian Brewster

The Liverpool wonderkid looked subdued until the quarter final of the tournament but has been decisive since then having scored successive hat-tricks in the two most important games for his country.

Rhian Brewster

Bengaluru, October 26: Rhian Brewster is the name on everyone’s lips right now following the youngster’s successive hat-tricks in the FIFA U-17 World Cup for England.

The Liverpool wonderkid looked subdued until the quarter final of the tournament but has been decisive since then having scored successive hat-tricks in the two most important games for his country.

Brewster notched his second treble in two games at the tournament to take his overall tally to seven as the Young Lions progressed to the final where they will play Spain in the replay of the u-17 European Champions where Spain defeated the Three Lions.

Here are three things to know about Brewster:

Klopp was impressed by him right away

On just his second day as Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp went down to the club's Kirkby academy to watch the U18s play Stoke City. At half-time in that affair, Klopp made the short walk to a nearby pitch to observe the U16s, where Brewster was playing.

With Klopp watching, in a rather strange move, Brewster was taken off after 50 minutes for the U16s and then told to head down to main pitch at Kirkby.

The striker was racing down to the older age group and with the sound of football studs clattering on concrete, initially darted past Klopp.

Realising his mistake, the 15-year-old Brewster paused, then circled back round to approach the newly appointed first-team manager, shake his hand and then go on to make his U18s debut in a 10-minute cameo. A switched-on player on and off the pitch.

Liverpool robbed Chelsea once again

Like his senior compatriot Dominic Solanke did this summer, Brewster, by his account, left Chelsea for Liverpool because he felt there was not enough opportunity of a breakthrough at Stamford Bridge.

He was a Chelsea prodigy from the age of 7 until Liverpool picked him up when he was 15. Former Liverpool U23s manager Michael Beale had coached Brewster at Chelsea, and shortly after the coach's departure from Liverpool, he abruptly declared in an interview with The Anfield Wrap that Brewster was a prospect to "pay very close attention to."

The youngster was not prepared for senior team call-up

As a result of his impressive showings for the youth sides, Brewster has been in and around the first-team setup for some time. He scored a hat trick in a behind-closed-doors friendly with Accrington Stanley last November.

Brewster would have to wait some time to be involved in a competitive game, but he was a surprise inclusion in the matchday squad for the Crystal Palace match at Anfield in April.

However, after Klopp informed him of the good news, Brewster was then worried about not having the appropriate preparation.

"He was excited about it, he was happy about it," Klopp said. "He told me after I said to him that he was in the squad: 'I have a washbag but I don't have a suit'. No problem - I don't like the suit too much so it's not a problem.

"That was the only difference, he has a lot of respect in the squad. Nobody thought: 'Who's this?'" Brewster didn't come on in the 2-1 defeat as Klopp later preached for patience with the youngster.

Story first published: Thursday, October 26, 2017, 11:46 [IST]
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