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The head coach of the England national team, Swedish Sven-Goran Eriksson, once described "Man Utd" forward Wayne Rooney as "the most promising young player since the times of Pele." However, today (Monday) marks the 20th birthday of the England national team's striker, so the question arises - what players are now considered future stars. This question was attempted to be answered by the official UEFA website.
The man who first catches everyone's eye is not a European, but in Spain he already feels at home. Argentinian Lionel Messi, born in July 1987, represented Barcelona's youth teams from the age of 13, and last season he made his debut in the UEFA Champions League and scored his first goal in the Spanish league.
But that was just the beginning. This summer in the Netherlands, he was the leader of the Argentine national team, which became the World Youth Champion, becoming the top scorer of the tournament and recognized as the best player of the tournament. Recently, the Spanish champions extended the contract with the young star until 2014, and L. Messi, having received Spanish citizenship, relieved the headache of "Barca" coach Frank Rijkaard - now the Dutchman can afford to play the young winger without sacrificing other team stars, who do not have a European Union passport. "He is still very young, but very important for the team," the coach says.
The same can be said about another star of the World Youth Championship, striker Ryan Babel, by Ajax Amsterdam. Scoring two goals in the World Cup, R. Babel helped the tournament host reach the quarterfinals. Moreover, he is a key player in the Ajax Amsterdam squad, starting this season with goals in the Dutch cup and the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round matches against "Brondby IF."
A player who attracted the attention of many scouts at a younger age is the tenth-ranked player (conditionally considered a playmaker) from Turkey, Nuri Sahin. These years have been truly successful for him - he was one of the leaders of the Turkish national team in the European U-17 tournament, and later was chosen as the third best player in the FIFA U-17 World Championship in Peru. In addition, N. Sahin also made his way into the record books - he became the youngest player to debut in the Bundesliga when he did so with Borussia Dortmund at just 16 years old.
Two more eighteen-year-olds, the French leaders of last year's European U-17 champions, continue to impress with good play. Forward Jeremy Menez and midfielder Samir Nasri have established themselves in the lineups of "Sochaux" and "Marseille" respectively, with J. Menez even scoring a "hat-trick" against "Bordeaux" in just 12 minutes - which was a record in Ligue 1 at the time.
In the ranks of the Spanish team that lost in the final of the 2004 European U-17 Championship, Cesc Fabregas clearly stood out. However, even before that, he attracted everyone's attention when he became the youngest player at Arsenal and the youngest to score a goal. Last season, the Spaniard was a key member of the London Arsenal lineup, one of the strongest clubs in the world.
However, the question remains - who will replace W. Rooney? And candidates emerge again, who participated in the U-17 World Championship in 2005. The first is the youngest player to score a goal in the "Premiership" (previously held by W. Rooney himself) forward James Vaughan - another product of the Liverpool Everton youth academy. Unfortunately, this player is currently injured, but at the end of last season, he caught the attention of scouts with his impressive performances.
The second, sixteen-year-old Theo Walcott, is a player known for his tremendous speed, who last week scored two goals for Southampton and became the youngest scorer in the club's history. Football experts would not be surprised if this wonderkid, like W. Rooney, soon moved to one of England's top clubs, bringing Southampton a significant profit.
