Mohammed Al-Issa: 5 Goals in 2 Matches in Saudi U-21 League – Real Talent or an Illusion from a 10-1 Win?

Osaka, an August evening, I sat in my usual bar, scrolling through my phone between slowly emptying glasses of beer. The screen showed a line: Mohammed Al-Issa, young striker of Al-Ettifaq, just scored a super hat-trick in a 10-1 victory in the JOY Elite Under-21 League. I stopped, read more carefully. Five goals in two matches, one super hat-trick. Numbers speak, but I have lived long enough with football to know that the prettiest numbers often come in matches where the opponent had already surrendered long ago. The JOY Elite Under-21 League, the second edition of a developing youth competition in Saudi Arabia. This is not the Saudi Pro League, where international stars shine under the lights of modern stadiums. This is where 19 and 20-year-old boys run their hearts out to earn a spot in the first team. Al-Ettifaq, a club playing in the top tier of Saudi football, has an ambitious youth academy. And Al-Issa, with five goals in 180 minutes, is the most talked-about name. But I learned one thing after three decades following teams: people don't remember the score, they remember why they didn't leave the bar. And I also learned that a 10-1 win says very little about a player's talent. It says more about the opponent's weakness. The second match, a 2-0 victory, is a more reliable measure. One goal in a competitive match is worth more than four goals in a one-sided game. I remember the summer of 2026, when I was 40, following Cerezo Osaka. In the 83rd minute, young midfielder Hiroaki Okuno received the ball at the edge of the box, fired a low shot into the far corner, sealing a 1-0 victory over Urawa Red Diamonds. 25,000 fans erupted. I stood in the press area, hearing the roar, then scrolled my phone and saw the hashtag #Okuno trending with over 12,000 posts in an hour. That night, I wrote about the boy who made the whole city forget its fear of relegation. But I also wrote about strangers embracing in the stands, about tears and laughter. Because football is not just about goals. Al-Issa is at the early stage of the media cycle. Goal.com calls him one of the most anticipated talents, the most prominent name in the league. But I have seen too many stories like this. A young player scores consecutively, the media starts hyping, expectations rise, and then when stronger opponents appear, everything collapses. Not because he lacks talent, but because we placed him on too high a pedestal, on too fragile a foundation. Two matches, 180 minutes, five goals. A rate of 2.5 goals per 90 minutes. These numbers are real, but they lack context. No xG, no shot data, no information about the quality of chances. We don't know how Al-Issa scored, against how weak a defense, or whether he created chances for teammates. All we have is a pretty number and a story built on it. I'm not saying Al-Issa isn't talented. I'm saying we don't have enough data to confirm it. An empty stadium doesn't make the match smaller, it only makes the memory bigger. And a 10-1 win against a weak opponent can create distorted memories. I want to see Al-Issa play against the top three teams in the standings. I want to see him score in matches where his team doesn't dominate completely. I want to see him handle the ball under pressure, create space for teammates, and most importantly, maintain form over at least ten matches. At my age, people don't count trophies; they count the nights when the whole city stays awake together. And I know those nights don't come from 10-1 wins. They come from matches where everything hangs on a knife's edge, where one goal can change the fate of an entire season. Al-Issa could become a real star, or he could be just another name forgotten when the season ends. It all depends on what he does in the next ten matches, not the two that have passed. I will follow him. I will note every match, every goal, every touch. Because I keep the beat of the story, having seen it fall and rise many times. And I know that in youth football, nothing is certain except change. Al-Issa could be the future of Saudi Arabian football, or he could just be a beautiful story for an August evening in Osaka. Time will tell. And I will be there, recorder in hand, listening to the real story.