2007 doesn't seem that long ago.
Except, one day you realise that it's been nine years, and the talented teenagers from back then should have made an impact on world football by now.
So who were the top 50 most exciting teenagers of 2007? We've come across a list of 50 compiled by the publication "World Soccer", and it makes for interesting reading. Credit to them, they have at least eight to ten players who can be considered world class now. There's another twenty to thirty players that you almost definitely have heard of that you'll be like "Whatever happened to him?"
The Players Who Crashed And Burned
Anderson - The Brazilian with the amazing youtube highlights never really justified the £17 million or so that Man United paid for him. A rash of injuries, and food, stopped him from ever becoming what he promised, and although there were flashes every now and again - United ultimately cut him lose.
Giovanni dos Santos - the ultimate player who you were always waiting to make it. It seemed like a huge coup for Spurs to sign him, but it looked like Barcelona knew what they were doing when they got rid of him. There was that summer when dos Santos shined for Mexico - but he couldn't replicate it for his club. He's now doing alright for himself with LA Galaxy.
Carlos Vela - Is it any surprise that a former Arsenal youth is on the list. Arsenal's youth team in 2007 was magical, and Vela was meant to be the big one. The Mexican was loaned out to La Liga clubs for a few years, but was never trusted and eventually sold. He's done ok for himself since joining Real Sociedad in 2012, and has finally settled. He was linked with a £21 million move to Spurs last year too.
Kerlon - that young Brazilian that Inter splashed out on after his remarkable performance in 2005 at the U17 World Cup. He was one of Mino Raiola's first players, and the start of the farce that is agent owned rights. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, injuries wrecked havoc year after year, and he never got more than four games in Europe. He's played in Japan, Malta, and in USA's second league. He's still playing - in Serie B of Brazilian football.
Who?
Sadick Adams - Athletico Madrid tried him for a year, realised they made a terrible mistake and he's now playing in Saudi Arabia.
Macauley Chrisantus - What is it about child stars named Macauley? Still hasn't been capped by Nigeria.
Kermit Erasmus - What parent names their child Kermit?
Dumitru Copil - The former Hearts midfielder never quite cut it, and is now playing Romanian second league football
Rabiu Ibrahim - Celtic fans will be forgiven for not recognising this former Sporting youngster. He only played a game with the Glaswwegians before being shipped off to Kilmarnock. Shades of George Weah's cousin about his CV that also includes two games with PSV. Now with Trencin in Slovakia.
Daniel Opare - I'm pretty sure I used to stock shelves with this guy.
Andrea Russotto - Not your Italian waiter from that memorable weekend, but a failed trequarista according to his wiki page. Russotto has been up and down the leagues in Italy, and seems to be making a comeback with Catania.
Of course, credit must eventually go to World Soccer for the names they did get right. The likes of Gareth Bale, Sergio Aguero, Angel di Maria, Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos, Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, and Ivan Rakitic have been outstanding; and people in the office think that Fabio Coentrao and Ever Banega also belong in that list.
It goes to show, if you throw enough names at the wall. Some will stick around long enough.
Here's the full list of players:
Unfortunately, there are no Irish players named on the list - which got us thinking. Who was the next generation of Irish players that we were excited about back then? A post from You Boys In Green in March 2008.
That list got very excited by two very recognisable names - a 16-year-old Robbie Brady who had just signed for Man United (I wonder what happened to him) and James (Jamie) McCarthy playing for a low league Scottish team. Other names to watch out for included Aaron Doran (formerly of Blackburn Rovers, now at Inverness), Conor Clifford (former Chelsea youth team captain, now of Boreham Wood), Darren Dennehy (former Everton schoolboy, now at St. Pat's), Karl Sheppard (also former Everton, now at Cork City), Aidan Downes (former Everton, Bohemians and now playing amateur/semi-pro football with Mornington SC in Melbourne), Conor Hourihane (former Sunderland, now at Barnsley),
