Top ten wasted talents in football, special feature (Part 1)
Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Luis Figo are few of the many footballers, who made it big time.
These players fulfilled their potential and are currently, or, in some cases have played at the highest level of football possible, be it club or international versions of the game. But not everyone is as fortunate as a Messi or as lucky as a Beckham.
Messi was himself a prey of somatotropin in his childhood, an illness which meant that his bones and muscles grew slower and slower day by day but that didn’t stop Messi from playing football. One day in a kick about with his friends, Messi was spotted by
a local Barcelona scout in Argentina.
Barcelona approached Messi’s parents and gave them an offer which was detailed around the fact that they would provide Lionel’s guardians with a home in Barcelona free of charge and also bear all expenses for their son’s medical treatment if Messi joins
Barcelona’s youth academy.
The rest as we know it is history, Messi is now fully cured of any growth hormone deficiency not only that, the Argentinean is now the best player in the world. However, all people are not as fortunate as Lionel.
One of such players is Ryan Green, most modern football fans wouldn’t even be aware of Green’s name but once upon a time, Green used to play for Wolverhampton and not only play, he was quite good too.
Wolverhampton fans will no doubt remember Ryan’s name. The year was 1998 when Bobby Gould called up Ryan Green to the Welsh national team squad, this call up propelled Ryan to heights of fame, everyone thought of him as the next big thing, at that time he
became the youngest player ever to make an appearance for his country.
This call up to the Welsh national team came before he could break through to the Wolves first team at the Molineux stadium, following his debut for Wales, Wolves also gave the young full back a chance so that everyone at the club could see what was so impressive
about the Welsh defender.
After his debut appearance for Wolverhampton Wanderers, the crowd took to him as a favorite due to his impressive performance at the Molineux stadium against Sheffield United.
Nonetheless, the following eighteen months appeared to be the worst ones for Ryan. He got injured and when he finally got fit again, he had declined as a footballer, he had lost his pace and his technique. Wolves were clearly unimpressed by this turn of
talent and thus they sold the Welsh international to Millwall, Ryan has since then spent the rest of the career in lower leagues of English football.
Currently, Ryan Green plays for Hereford United in League Two.
One of the well known names in this list is Joe Cole. Cole, who is currently 28 started his career in the West Ham youth academy in London. Around 15 years ago when he was just 13 years old, Cole was already on his way to becoming one of the best young talents
in England.
Blessed with natural talent and quick feet, Cole was destined to become what Paul Gascoigne was to England, a true flair player. A famous story goes around that, whenever the legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson used to visit London, he used to pay respects
to Harry Redknapp, who was in charge at West Ham, only to inquire about the welfare and possible purchase of little Joe.
As we all know, Ferguson never actually bought the London boy but Cole didn’t fulfill his potential as well. Yes, Joe has been a terrific footballer but injuries and his lack of fitness levels have always held him behind from other well established talents
such as Frank Lampard and Jermain Defoe.
One can only determine his weak condition by taking into account the fact that Cole never finished 90 minutes of a game during his time at Stamford Bridge under Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti. It has therefore turned out to be a case of “what if” for
Cole.
(Continued in Part 2…)
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