Reimond Manco - South American Under 17 Football Championship

South American Under 17 Football Championship

Manco went with the Peruvian U-17 football team to the 2007 South American Under 17 Football Championship that started on 4 March 2007. In the first match the team had to face the Brazilian national team. Peru won the match 2–1 with one goal scored by Manco and the other by Christian La Torre and a penalty saved by the young goalkeeper Hermoza.

After that match, Peru won most of the following matches and ended first in its group (qualifying to the last round) with Manco scoring another goal and shining for his team.

In the final round of the tournament (where the first four qualified to the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup) Peru won the first match against Venezuela but in the next match Brazil crushed Peru 4–0 and after that Colombia defeated Peru 3–0. By the fourth match Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina were already qualified for the U-17 World Cup. Meanwhile, Peru, Venezuela and hosts Ecuador had to fight for the last qualification.

For the fifth match, Peru had the obligation to defeat Ecuador, although the match ended in a draw, a result which took every hope for Ecuador to be present in the U-17 World Cup. For the last match against Argentina, Peru had to lose by at least four goals to be eliminated. In the match beforehand against Ecuador, Manco had been sent off in the last minute for two yellow cards. Even without Manco, the "Incas" were capable of drawing the match through a penalty and managed to get a place in the U-17 World Cup. Manco was chosen as the best player of the tournament by CONMEBOL, South America's official football federation. Despite his fresh footballer career, rumors regarding his transfer were already spreading. After the competition, he was reported to be scouted by big clubs such as Boca Juniors, Real Madrid, and PSV. It was later rumoured he had signed with the latter, though he had not at the time. Liverpool were also reportedly very keen to get the youngster's service.