Former Charlton winger achieves World Cup dream with Ecuador

Charlton Athletic academy director Steve Avory was pleased to see Jeremy Sarmiento make his World Cup debut last weekend.

The 20-year-old winger was part of Charlton’s academy – and won England U17 honours – before signing for Benfica in 2018.

Sarmiento joined Brighton in July 2021 and made his Premier League debut against Leeds in November 2021.

He came off the bench for Ecuador in their Group A opener on Sunday, a 2-0 win over host nation Qatar, replacing Renato Ibarra in the 68th minute.

“It didn’t seem too long ago that I remember him coming through the gates as a schoolboy,” said Avory. “It feels like only last week that Jeremy was here, then all of a sudden he is playing at a World Cup.

“A World Cup only comes around every four years and four years ago he would have been a schoolboy.

“He loved attacking. He loved the game. Every time he got on the ball you thought something exciting, something wow, was going to happen.

“We certainly wanted to take him on as scholar but he chose another route.”

Sarmiento’s country are back in action today against Netherlands and then face Senegal on Tuesday.