They were born for the big stage: Callum Hudson-Odoi and the boys from South London

The first thing we notice in Callum Hudson-Odoi is that nothing seems to upset him. They saw him at training in England this week, where the 18-year-old looked completely at home alongside Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling.

As such, it was natural for Gareth Southgate to give him a shot at Wembley, breaking the record for Duncan Edwards, England's youngest player to have his first cap in a competitive game.

On the pitch, the public was able to see what Southgate had enjoyed in private this week: his ability to face the players and his innate confidence in mixing him with the best, which ultimately allowed Tomas Kalas to score for the fifth goal British.

"We found another player that really pleased us, but we were not sure he could adapt to that level," Southgate said later.

& # 39; He has already proven in this environment that he can do more than get out of it. He's a very confident boy, he's mature and it's going to be a fantastic week for him. I am really happy for him that he is participating in a game and shows people what he has shown us all week at workout.

Yet for those who know his story, it was not a surprise. Hudson-Odoi was born for the big scenes. His father is Bismark Odoi. In 1978, Hearts of Oak, Ghana's governing body, left the capital Accra to face Asante Kotoko, his rival, 150 miles inland. It was a trip, metaphorically speaking, in enemy territory in front of a crowd of about 50,000 people.

None of this worried a young Odoi, then 17 years old. Midfielder dribbling, he opened the scoring in the first period, shocked by local fans. But Asante Kotoko equalized and two other Hearts of Oaks players were sent off.

Odoi says his team of just nine men clung to victory in the 88th minute. Following a crowd rush after the match, 16 fans were killed, a tragic end to a dramatic match that is still being talked about in Accra and which is part of the Ghanaian football club's historical narrative.

It is therefore not surprising that Hudson-Odoi junior shows no apparent fear. It is under Bismark's leadership that he became the player he is today. Jenny, mom and dad, were in Wembley to have a moment of pride in the family. Bismark initially arrived in England to take part in an FA coaching course with former England coach Arsenal and QPR coach Don Howe. He then reduced his career level.

Odoi has been trained and played with Hendon, whose senior team was part of the Isthmian league. His eldest son, Bradley, now 30, would follow him everywhere watching him play. At the time, the family lived in Battersea and Bradley played for the prodigious youth club football teams of Providence House, who also produced Michail Antonio de West Ham.

At the time of Callum's birth, the family had moved to Colliers Wood in the suburbs, and Callum's youth had gone on to watch Brad's dad play Bradley's career in Hereford in League One, and then in semi-professional football, as Wealdstone and Sutton United. , where he played against Arsenal in the 2017 FA Cup match.

All the while Callum was receiving private lessons from Bismark. Cavendish Park at Colliers Wood, like most recreational facilities, is rather bbad and uninviting, but full of green space.

Three times a week, Bismark came home from work – he was running a maintenance company – and took his younger son to the nearby cage football field where he was working on his technique.

"When he was not playing, I would take him to the park," Bismark said. I would take the cage, dribble, shoot. He should work a lot on his weaker foot, which was his left. But now he has two feet. He wanted to train, though. And as Bradley was playing and I had played, he was still around. We would still be training in the rain. And even the snow. But we could see that they had the ability to become a good player. & # 39;

Callum's gifts were spotted by Chelsea at eight o'clock. At age 11, he received a sports scholarship at the Whitgift School, but on condition that he pbad his university exam, what he did. He is one of a growing number of private English players, including Trent Alexander Arnold, Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, Calum Chambers, Jadon Sancho and Phil Foden.

Yet it is also part of a more important cultural trend of English football: the South London phenomenon. In adolescence, he was already friends with Sancho and Reiss Nelson, of Lambeth, not far from there.

Watching Sancho and Hudson-Odoi against each other on Friday night as they were clearing their way through the Czech defense at Wembley, was to remind them that they were friends and that They had been playing together since the age of 14. (And that it was the first time 138 years that England had introduced two 18 year olds in a competitive match).

The Sessegnon family and her twins, Ryan and Steven, have been family friends since the age of 14. All came from a condensed region of south-central London that extended from Wandsworth to Merton and Lambeth. Spread the boundaries a little further east and also include Ademola Lookman from Everton, who grew up in Peckham and Joe Gomez in Catford.

A densely populated area with a rich ethnic diversity and a high proportion of young people has proved to be a rich reserve of great footballers. Perhaps crucially, which has been well served since 2012 by the Reformed Academies of the Premier League, seems to be the ingredients for the renaissance of football in South London.

Yet Hudson-Odio and Sancho share their own style and confidence. "I think that's how we were raised from the beginning," says Sancho.

& # 39; C & rsquo; is street football. From there, everyone expresses themselves and that is how people learn their skills. Street football means that you do not fear anyone because you have nothing to lose and you only do it yourself. I think it's very good.

Bismark agrees. "My training is based on street football, which gives them aggression, movement," he adds, adding with a hearty laugh: "We have to do something in South London!"

A leading scout from a major Premier League club said: "I have recommended the presence of a scout in the south London city center, which focuses solely on young people. because something is going on there. There is so much talent.

Callum Hudson-Odoi (18, Chelsea)

Callum Hudson-Odoi has always had football in the family. His father, Bismark, played as a midfielder for Hearts of Oak in Ghana's highest stadium in his home country.

His brother Bradley was a Fulham trainee who now plays for Woking in the National League South. Both are now Hudson-Odoi advisers.

Growing up in Wood Colliers, Hudson-Odoi has made more privileged studies than others. He pbaded the Whitgift Private School Entrance Exam, whose annual fee exceeds £ 20,000 for day students, and received a scholarship to fund his schooling.

Whitgift has the reputation of being a breeding ground for international sportsmen: from Elliot Daly, Danny Cipriani and Marland Yarde to rugby cricket player Jason Roy.

They are now studying 26 players from the academy of Chelsea, Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Fulham and AFC Wimbledon.

His teammate Victor Moses of Chelsea also went there. Hudson-Odoi scored 113 goals in three years, including a hat-trick in the 2014 U-13 Independent Schools Cup final.

Ryan Sessegnon (18, Fulham)

Fulham stars Ryan Sessegnon and his twin brother Steven played football in a cage next to their house in Roehampton, from morning till night.

"There were times when you could not even see the street lights, so you had to imagine who was on your team," Sessegnon said.

The brothers attended Coombe Boys School in New Malden from 11 years old. Ryan holds the school record at 1500m.

Among the alumni of the school, the young Patrick City of Man City and the rising star of Liverpool, Liam Miller.

When Sessegnon made his Fulham debut in the League Cup in August 2016, he did it alongside three other elders: Dennis Adeniran, Tayo Edun and Luca De La Torre.

Sessegnon, a cousin of former Parisian winger Saint-Germain and Sunderland, Sephane, pbaded his GCSE exams at the British Consulate in Georgia, while he was playing for England with the under-25s. 19 years old, but returned to his high school last year to pbad the examination of a BTEC. diploma.

He and his brother helped the school win the prestigious PlayStation Schools Cup two years in a row, beating Ribblesdale High School 9-0 in a final.

Ademola Lookman (21, Everton)

Ademola Lookman grew up in Peckham and played football in cages and on the street, where about 37% of children live in poverty in a neighborhood in Southwark, which has one of the highest knife crime rates. high of London.

"Coming from a context where we did not have a lot of things and we know how it was, I just wanted to get out of this situation," he said.

"A rough area. But growing up, for me, everything revolved around football and sports. & # 39;

His mother Adebimpe has held several jobs to look after Lookman and her two sisters. They went to church every Sunday.

Lookman, of Nigerian descent, attended St. Thomas College of Apostle where he earned five degrees in maths, history, religious education, physical education and chemistry, four students and one C. He returned last year to judge the Masterchef of a student. competition.

Lookman played for the Sunday League Waterloo – a club created near the station by parents who wanted a safe environment for their kids – before he was spotted by Charlton while he was playing for the London FA Under 16.

Jadon Sancho (18, Borussia Dortmund)

Jadon Sancho grew up in Kennington's Guinness Trust building and has always had a mission in life: "Bring my family out of this area".

His father, Sean, a former security guard, lives with him in an apartment near the Dortmund field. He is in regular contact with his mother in Kennington.

It was rough there. "All around me, there were people who did bad things, but I never wanted to deal with it. After school, I just wanted to play football.

He would play in the streets and alleys.

Sancho joined the Watford Academy at the age of seven and, at the age of 12, left home to live in excavations near the training grounds during his studies at the Harefield Academy of Uxbridge.

A few years later, he left, leaving Watford for Man City where he studied at the private school St Bede in Cheshire. It's there that the prospects of the city's academy are going.

Reiss Nelson (19, Hoffenheim (on loan from Arsenal)

Reiss Nelson had the opportunity to go to school near his home in the Aylesbury area in Walworth, but his family sent him to the London Nautical School near Waterloo. "They felt that it could keep me out of trouble."

It was hard on the Aylesbury estate that Nelson himself described as "pretty rough".

Nelson's family – Jackie, his sister Tessa and his brother Ricky – now live with him in Hoffenheim.

The London Nautical School, founded in 1915 following the loss of the Titanic, was used to help young men reach their full potential in maritime activities, but it has recently produced a stream of young international footballers:

Fulham goaltenders Marcus Bettinelli, Vontae Daley-Campbell, Jeremy Sarmiento, Malcolm Ebiowei and John Bostock are among 21 former students who have entered the professional ranks.