The footballing world has seen several players display astonishing abilities and potential at a very young age, with the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, and Erling Haaland being some of the prime examples. Football's massive advancement when it comes to training methods, fitness maintenance, and several other factors have undoubtedly contributed to the rise of these stars as well.
We'll be going back to more than a 100 years in this reading, as this article will be looking back at a young prodigy who had the entire world in his hands. Let us read the career of Paulino Alcántara, Barcelona's youngest ever superstar.
A promising start
It was at the age of three that a young Paulino Alcántara moved to Barcelona along with his parents, in the same year that FC Barcelona was found by Joan Gamper. The young Philippine was meant to begin his football career with FC Galeno, but Gamper discovered the talented forward and signed him for Barca's youth academy.
Alcántara made his debut for Barcelona at the age of 15, as Barcelona took on Catalá SC in in the Campionat de Catalunya (Catalan football championship). The match ended 9-0 in the Blaugrana's favour, and Alcántara made history by scoring 3 goals to officially become the club's youngest ever goalscorer.
This was just the beginning of greatness, as Alcántara guided Barcelona to two Campionat de Catalunya (1913, 1916) titles and 1913 Copa del Rey.
A trip back to Philippines
It was in the year of 1916 that Alcántara's parents returned to the Philippines and took their son with them. The young forward continued his studies in medicine and played football for the Bohemian Sporting Club. Barcelona's loss ended up becoming Philippines' gain.
Alcántara helped his Philippine club to win two Philippine Championships (1917 and 1918), and his heroics also saw him called up by the Philippines national side. The young prodigy took part in the 1917 Far Eastern Championship Games with Philippines, and recorded an astonishing 15-2 win over Japan. The result still stands to this date as their biggest ever win. Alcántara had also represented Philippines in Table Tennis at the time, thus proving his credentials in multiple sports.
Barcelona struggled immensely in their star forwards absence, and pleaded to his parents for bringing Alcántara back. The young Philippine maestro contracted Malaria in 1917, and he apparently refused to take medication until he was allowed to return to Barcelona.
The final legendary run
Upon his return to Barca, former teammate and then manager Jack Greenwell experimented by playing Alcántara as a defender. However, Alcántara struggled to adapt in that position, leading to the Blaugrana's club membership payers ( known as Els Socis) demanding Alcántara to be switched back to his normal position.
Barcelona clinched the Campionat de Catalunya once again in 1919, but they went on to lose the Copa del Rey final 5-2 against Arenas Club de Getxo. It was in the same year on 13th April that Alcántara went on to score what was later famously referred to as the "police goal". Legend has it that a policeman got in the way of a powerful shot, so powerful that the ball and policeman ended up in the back of the net.
The year of 1920 saw Barcelona achieve both the Campionat de Catalunya and Copa del Rey, with Alcántara scoring in the latter competition's final which Barca won 2-0.
This was the beginning of a golden era for Barca, which saw them dominate both the Campionat de Catalunya and Copa del Rey.
Alcántara yet again scored in 2 Copa del Rey finals, which against Real Unión in 1922 (5-1 Barcelona victory) and Atlético Madrid in 1926 ( 3-2 Barcelona victory).
He left the club after 9 years, scoring an astonishing 395 goals in 399 games. The record was broken only 87 years later by a certain Leo Messi.
Alcántara retired from football at age 31, dedicating the rest of his life as a doctor, club director, and eventually a coach.
