Youssoufa Moukoko opens up on age falsification controversy: “I cried.” | OneFootball

German striker Youssoufa Moukoko has opened up over the scandal involving his age whilst conducting an interview for Danish television. While Moukoko’s former Bundesliga outfit continues to deny that the officially 20-year-old ever falsified his age, the story is largely treated as a fact by most German footballing journalists. That isn’t to suggest that Moukoko doesn’t maintain plenty of sympathy and support from the German footballing public.

“I cried and thought: ‘How will I get out of this?’,” Moukoko – as quoted by Kicker – told Danish broadcaster TV2. “‘When will things get better?’ Many people might just say, ‘Everything is fine’ when they’ve been through tough times. But I want to talk about it.

“[Some media outlets] will just do anything to get attention,” Moukoko continued. “People are always trying to find out something about me and write a story about it. In the end, I have to care less and just let them carry on.“

The fact that Moukoko’s Cameroonian birth certificate appears to have falsified his real age remains a story that the German footballing journalism establishment does generally accept, yet doesn’t make too big a point of reporting on. Dortmund’s official stance – buttressed by the release of official German documents – holds that no such falsification has ever taken place.

The BVB-released documents still do not outright disprove the theory that Moukoko is four years older than his listed age as he did not move to Hamburg Germany until long after his birth. Moukoko began his academy career with FC St. Pauli in 2014. At the time, he was listed as a ten-year-old eligible to play for the U13s. The allegations claim that Moukoko was actually 14 years-of-age upon joining the U13s.

Performance-wise, Moukoko is off to a good start with his new Danish club FC Copenhagen. Moukoko has exceeded his goal total from last year’s lost loan stint with OGC Nice in Ligue 1 (two goals) with three goals in 12 appearances across all competitions for the Danish capital city outfit. The youngster helped Copenhagen qualify for the Champions League with a converted penalty in a crucial UCL playoff fixture.

GGFN | Peter Weis