
Top 100 Young Players 2001: Where Are They Now? (Nos. 80-71)
Part three today, Nos. 80-71, Hope everyone enjoyed 100-81.
In this part we have a Premier League star along with an Ex-England prodigy to look cast your eyes over.
And make you wonder how some of the "stars" of yesteryear managed to beat Kaka and Berbatov in the list as well.
So far we have seen Hleb, Kaka and Berbatov appear as surely the biggest names to appear on this list, but as the shocks get bigger so do the superstars.
Enjoy!
80: Candido Costa
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Name: Candido Costa
Position: Wingback
Nationality: Portugal
Int Caps/Goals: 25/5 Portugal under 21's
Clubs: Benfica, Salguieros, Porto, Victoria Setubal (Loan), Derby County (Loan), Sporting Braga, Beleneses, Rapid Bucharest.
Beginning his career with Benfica as a youth, Costa moved to Porto after a brief nine-game stint with Salguieros.
33 games and three goals in four years followed along with loans at Derby County and Setubal before a disappointing spell in Braga brought 29 games in two years.
Moving to Beleneses Costa enjoyed his best form making 79 appearances in three years. He made his second move abroad this summer signing for Romanian side Rapid Burcharest.
79: Andres Oliveira
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Name: Andres Oliveira
Position: Forward
Nationality: Unknown
Int Caps/Goals: Unknown
Clubs: Perth Glory, Unknown
In researching for the players on this list, this has been the first complete blank I have came across unfortunately.
Little is known about the striker other then he used to play for Perth Glory when the list was created and played as a forward.
His current whereabouts seems to be a mystery and any information again would be welcome.
78: Michael Essien
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Name: Michael Essien
Position: Midfielder
Nationality: Ghana
Int Caps/Goals: 51/9
Clubs: Bastia, Lyon, Chelsea.
When Chelsea forked out a then club record £24.5million to bring Essien to Stamford Bridge you knew he had to be something special.
And the box to box midfielder has proved to be one of the best signing's of the Roman Abramovich era.
The versatile Ghana captain has filled the void left by Claude Makelele—when he is not filling in a right back that is.
But at the time of this list in 2001 Essien was a young midfielder making his name in France with Bastia.
Three years at Bastia earned him a move to French champions Lyon who were convinced to splash out €7.8 million to beat off competition from PSG and Marseille.
77: Fernando Macedo Nano
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Name: Fernando Macedo Nano
Position: Winger
Nationality: Spanish
Int Caps/Goals: 2/0 Spain under21's
Clubs: Barcelona, Ath. Madrid, Getafe, Cadiz, Racing Ferroll, Numancia.
Fernando Macedo da Silva Rodilla, or Nano for short, began his career at the Nou Camp, making 111 appearances for Barcelona B netting 11 goals between 1999-2003 making his debut at just 17 years old.
Failing to establish himself however with the Catalan giants Nano moved to Ath Madrid where he enjoyed a decent debut season as the club made the UEFA Cup.
However his form disappeared and he dropped out of the La Liga and into the lower leagues before making his way back up where he now plays with Numancia.
76: Dulee Johnson
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Name: Dulee Johnson
Position: midfiedler
Nationality: Liberia
Int Caps/Goals: 25/0
Clubs: Floda, Hacken, AIK, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Aik
Son of former Liberian player and manager Josiah Johnson, Dulee came to prominence during his spell with Hacken in Sweden.
Sticking with the club following their relegation in 2001 and helping the club return to the top league in 2004 Johnson moved to Swedish side AIK in 2004.
Two years with the side before switching to Isreal with Maccabi Tel Aviv for £300 000.
Back with AIK for a second time, the midfielder is currently suspended by the club following rape allegations after the clubs main sponsors threatened to withdraw their backing to the club.
75: Mauro Rosales
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Name: Mauro Rosales
Position: Winger
Nationality: Argentina
Int Caps/Goals: 10/1
Clubs: Newells Old Boys, Ajax, River Plate, Queretaro fc (from January 2011)
The lightning quick winger made his name with Old Boys and helped Argentina under 20's to the 2001 Fifa Youth Cup championships.
He followed that success up with a 2004 Olympic Gold Medal in Greece as he secured a move to Europe when he joined Ajax.
Struggling to adapt to the European game he returned to his home country with River Plate and helped the club to their first success in four years in 2008.
The former Argentine will find himself playing in Mexico as he celebrates in 30th birthday in February after agreeing to join Mexican side Queretaro FC in January 2011.
74: Derik Boateng
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Name: Derik Boateng
Position: midfielder
Nationality: Ghana
Int caps/goals: 22/3
Clubs: Kalamata, Panathaniakos, OFI Crete (loan), AIK, Beitar Jerusalem, FC Koln, Getafe.
Boateng came close to joining Premier League side Middlesborough in 2002 after impressing then manager Steve McClaren during a match between Panathaniakos and Manchester United in the Champions League.
Rejected a work permit to move to the Premier League Boateng and instead moved to Sweden with AIK but suffered relegation before moving to German for with FC Koln.
A year later and he was on the move again this time to Spain with his current club Getafe, who he has spent the last year with.
73: Theo Janssen
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Name: Theo Janssen
Position: midfielder
Nationality: Dutch
Int Caps/goals: 3/0
Clubs: Vitesse, Genk (loan), Twente
Beginning his career with Vitesse, the talented midfielder made over 200 appearances over 10 years during an injury-plagued spell.
Moving to Steve McClaren's Twente following a brief spell on loan with Beglium side Genk, the midfielder has been a key player for the Dutch Champions over the last two years.
Janssen was suspended for two months by the club in November 2009 following a Drink Driving incident—the midfielder crashing his car and former goalkeeper Kevin Moeliker ended up in a coma for several days and lost an ear.
72: Hassan Ahamada
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Name: Hassan Ahamada
Position: Forward
Nationality: French
Int Caps/Goals: 0/0
Clubs: FC Nantes, SC Bastia (loan), Beira Mar (loan), Belenenses, LB Chatearoux, Hatta Club, Vannes OC.
The 29 year old was predicted to be a future french superstar when he broke into the Nantes side but three goals from 66 games over a six-year spell which included the forward leaving for a permanent move to Portugal with Belenenses, but he managed just three goals in 20 games before returning to France.
Rediscovering his form with Hatta Club the forward scored 10 goals in 18 games before moving to french second division side Vannes OC in 2008.
71: Cherno Samba
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Name: Cherno Samba
Position: Forward
Nationality: England/Gambia
Int Caps/goals: 4/1 Gambia
Clubs: Miwall, Cadiz, Malaga, Plymouth Argyle, Wrexham, Haka, Panetolikos.
Rising to prominence in England in at the tender at of just 13, Cherno was chased by some of the countries biggest sides after netting 132 goals in just 32 games as a school boy.
After bids from Liverpool and Manchester United were turned down, Samba left Millwall in 2004 for Spanish side Cadiz and was forgotten by English football.
Finally returning to the Championship in 2006 with Plymouth the forward managed just one goal in 13 starts before moving to FC Haka in Finland.
The striker was linked with a return to English football in 2009 following trials with Portsmouth and Norwich city but after nothing materialized he returned to mainland Europe joining Greek side Panetolikos.
End of Part 3
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So Part 3 is over and Part 4 of this collection of mishapes and mix-ups continues next time when we count down Nos. 70-61.
So far we have added big stars such as Michael Essien to the list alongside Kaka and Berbatov—all surely making the top 20 at least if the list was re-done today.
Up next we have two Old Firm players, along with the third former Manchester United Prodigy to make the list.
We also have two number MLS stars to include in the list to make sure you check it out!
Hope you enjoyed!







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