12-year-old raises age doubts after dazzling for Dortmund's Under-17s

Berlin - A 12-year-old is creating waves for Borussia Dortmund's youth team after scoring eight goals in three games for their under-17 side - although there are questions about his age.

Despite playing in an age group where his opponents and teammates are usually around five years older, Youssoufa Moukoko has set the German under-17 league on fire with his amazing dribbling skills and shooting prowess.

"Sometimes," says Dortmund's under-17 coach Sebastian Geppert, "you can see in Youssoufa that he is still a little boy."

However, there are some doubts in German youth circles about his age, according to AFP subsidiary SID.

Given his age, his ability is incredible, which led to scepticism after he scored twice against SG Unterrath, hit two more against VfL Bochum then three days later scored four against Viktoria Cologne in a 6-1 rout.

The precocious youngster was born in Cameroon.

According to the official certificate, issued at the German consulate in the capital Yaounde, his date of birth is Nov. 20, 2004, but footage of the robust forward slicing through defences shows he is physically mature for his age.

The German Football Association (DFB) has put out a statement to say that there is nothing wrong with a child playing in an age group for teenagers, "however, talents like Youssoufa Moukoko are big exceptions and not every exception should encourage an imitation".

"In regards to footballing development, this model is not advisable in most cases," added the DFB statement.

Dortmund already have some experience of blooding youngsters.

Nuri Sahin made his Bundesliga debut aged 16 years 334 days - a league record - in August 2005 and is still in the first team today.

Likewise, United States international Christian Pulisic was 17 when he broke into the first-team straight from Dortmund's under-19 team in January 2016 and will only turn 19 next month.