The Official Australian "Wonderkids" Thread- The Future Generation. (Long Post)

I wouldn't disagree with some. But I wouldn't bag out Hardy like that. It's very unfortunate for him, that injury has apparently killed what could have been a decent career path for him.

Williams still has some way to go. And yeah the Brondby move hasn't been as good as hoped. But hey, the Olympics are just around the corner now and he's a key Olyroos attacker. I expect he's one of the Olyroos who could benefit most from the Olympics, in terms of landing a better scenario at club level.

Jamieson is a wait and see. Just because he's moved to the A-League with a club where he'll likely have a very good chance of first team, does not mean his career is essentially failure. Albeit on the contrary and as evidenced by your assessment of guys like Cameron Watson, it's not soo easy for some of your young talent to even break into the A-League. And the A-League, infact Adelaide United, is the place which launched Djite and Burns. And now Djite atleast, is set for a very promising immediate future in Europe. Patafta one could say did struggle in his attempt to 'launch' his senior career at Melbourne. But I think we're sensing that Newcastle could be, what Adelaide was to Burns and Djite, but then, here we go again, call the hype police.

No doubting, we can tend to hype up our young kids a little, prob too much sometimes. But that's natural. But I don't think we're that bad either - many of us know, that ust because they might be at a good club now, doesn't mean they'll end up playing EPL for Arsenal or la Liga for Barcelona or something.

But Wonderkids can be a misleading title, I agree. BUT yeah, a majority of the kids brought up in this thread are NOT Wonderkids. But so what? That's the fun of this thread, we bring up random kids out from here and there, those who may only have a modicum of potential. But hey, like a lottery or something, some of those we may accidently have picked correctly? So basically this thread is like some sorting line - we throw up as many half talented kids we've heard of and then eventually as time goes by we see how many, actually were able to make it. Obviously only a small % in terms of succeeding in Europe. I admit, if this thread would not be a good Darts player, but then, we make the Bullseye fairly big, I guess (Cheat, by having such a broad definition of Wonderkid, that soo many far from being Wonderkids, are included here).

Matthew Spiranovic we chatted about here, back in his days with Victory. But while he had a fair bit of potential and was very young at the time, many of us, well myself atleast, did not expect to see him rise sooo far.

As too James Troisi. Sure the kid has yet to even play proper club first team yet, but his stature within the NT set up has launched from 0 not long ago, to something I would've certainly never have thought, at this stage of his career. But yeah, at club level, he still has quite some way to go, but one presumes he's on the cusp of fixing up that scenario very soon. He, like Spiranovic, has risen to a status, at this stage of his career, I for one, would not have imagined.

Bruce Djite and Nathan Burns. Djite's rise in just say, 3 months even, let alone 18 months, has been phenomenal. I'm still getting used to the idea, that Djite is a Socceroos regular now, actually a squad fixture already.

There are some others. A few are ofcourse 'to be continued' (Especially see Olympics) as with all footballers. Many may never be capped with the NT. Some as hinted here, may actually be capped with NTs from overseas.

BTW On a side note, many listed by us, now would not qualify as Wonderkids per say, as some of this lot are very much 22,23 years of age or even older and anyone over 20 I would no longer consider a 'kid' in football terms, especially if they've made first team set ups, be it Europe or A-League. Guys like Patafta, Troisi and Spiranovic are all leaving, or left the age range of Wonderkid, like within the past 6 months (Through their age and first team status').

So guys like Kilkenny, while obviously his career still has a bit of a watch this space element to it, mainly due to the Olympics. But at 23, the guy is long past being any sort of a kid now. But yeah, due to the breadth of time this thread has covered, when first discussed here, he WAS around 20.

lol this thread has been around since mid 06, it will be strange to see the first batch of Wonderkids hitting 30 soon enough

I think the message is loud and clear, STAY AT HOME UNTIL YOU ARE READY!!!

The a-league isn't the end of a career. Returning did wonders for Carney and hopefully the other guys who have come back can improve their game and give Europe another shot.

Didn't EPL4Life say he was going to open up a new wonderkids thread shortly??? Said it awhile ago and haven't heard about it since.

He did, no idea what happened to him.

I agree with most of your sentiments. I think there will be some very good players from that list, but to brand them "Wonderkids" is a bit much unless they are playing 1st team football.

Viduka and Kewell are really the only true wonderkids Australia has ever had. Spiranovic is looking good, but i think the key for young Australians is to play as much 1st team senior football as possible in order to develop. There is no use going overseas if you are just going to play reserves/youth.

Also to all the kids heading over to England to EPL Academies, good luck, because only one Aussie has ever made it through the system and become a success story and that is Harry Kewell.

Alright I thought it was time to give this thread a bump from dusty old page 4 .

Used to be my favourite thread on this board and it's sad to see it's neglect.

Heres some news:

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25470273-5006373,00.html

An 18yo striker already getting games in Serie B. If this guy does alright at Albinoleffes he could fly past a few of our current guys. At the very least I hope Versleijen gets him into some Under 20 camps. Looks like a great prospect.

Definitely worth a shout out to over an idiot like Matt Simon.

We had better not let opportunities like these evade us. We lost Vieri, and look what happened there...let's learn from history.

One year on:

Rostyn Griffiths - Short term signing at AU, haven't heard from him since.

Scott Jamieson - Hardly needs to be said, had a ********ing belter of a year, is potential Chippers replacement, has been trialling with Groningen. Definate prospect even if stays another year at AU.

Kaz Patafta - LOL

Cameron Watson - is an American actor, screenwriter, and director, best known for playing Bart Fallmont in the TV miniseries Dynasty: The Reunion. Oh, you mean the other guy. Allegedly he's been training with GCU.

Dez Giraldi - Dubbed 'GirLOLdi' by SFCU, was repeatedly used as injury replacement due to his possession of embarrassing photographs involving John Kosmina, two tubs of floor wax, furry handcuffs and the complete Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figure collection.

Neil Kilkenny - Had a good season at Leeds but will stilll be playing League One.

David Williams - Struggling with injury and has had a frustrating season.

James Troisi - Has a club, goals, etc. Will we see him in against Japan/Bahrain?

these lists are always ridiculous as it is so difficult for young aussies to fulfil their potential. i mean young aussies have to prove themselves twice, in australia and then abroad. i makes it soo much harder. thats why we see these lads just head off straight to europe (ie kewell.) and try there luck. sometimes though that can be a bad experience and it all goes downhill. on that note, its good to see someone like Jamieson bounce back from being released by Bolton and doing well in australia. its a good example.

but the youngsters we should be looking forward to seeingmore from,
Nathan Burns (AEK)
Dean Bouzanis (Liverpool)
Rhys Williams (Middlesbrough)
Chris Herd (Aston Villa)
Matt Spiranovic (Nurnberg)
James Troisi (Genclerbirligi)
Nikita Rukavytsya (Twente)
Ryan McGowan (Hearts)
Rob Stambolziev (Bristol City)

Just wondering, what sort of path would you take if you wanted a shot at becoming a professional footballer?
I live in Tassie, but really want to make it. Any advice?
Cheers.

Apparently, dont go to the AIS. They'll ruin your career.

How old are you?

IMO, you would be better off staying as far away from the current crop of A-League coaches as possible. If you can move to Europe, you will be much better off, where the knowledge of the game has been developed and there are a lot of coaches who know how to get the best out of a player.

If you are under 18 and want to leave the country to play football, you will need your parents to go with you as long as they are going for their own benefit and not yours.

I know of a number of young guys (none on this list) that have all attempted European trials in the last couple of years.
I’ll use this example:
One 15yo in 2006 and two 16 year olds last year in 2008. Each came back with a positive experience, and each pretty much related the same thing. Typical statements they made were… “They play so much one-touch-and-go play it’s unbelievable”. “I was encouraged to try something and I’d actually get the ball back.” “They don’t hold onto the ball”. “It was so fast there wasn’t time for decision making.” “No one bawled us out for not being strong enough, instead they worked on our shielding.” “It was just so different.”

Its worth noting, the 3 were all given a choice. Stay here and we’ll make a decision when you are 18, or go back home (to Australia) and come back when you are 18. They had very explicit homework.
1. Play one touch even if you get criticized for it. (And you will be for sure because it's not going to work yet)
2. Learn how to re-win the ball once you’ve lost the ball by following Instruction Nr 1.
3. Don’t play with a lingering injury. Be smart. Rest.
4. Enjoy what you do.
5. If you do all that. Come back.

I’m not trying to be off-topic, merely relating the experiences of a few guys that are trying their hearts out, but keeping under the radar. (Or as Hans Berger might say, working on the late-bloomer syndrome.)

This thread needs some fresh faces that haven't been mentioned yet or some that probably have. 16-19 year olds(and a few 20's) who are based in Europe and in Australia..i might of missed out on quite a few but these ones just stuck out to me as i was reading through a massive list of Australian players. Surely we can uncover a fair amount of good players from this? It would be absolutely criminal if all of these guys turned out to be a Michael Ferrante or Nathan Coe

Aaron Mooy - Bolton
Adrian Uchino - Frosinone
Alex Baird - Derby County
Alex Cisak - Leicester City
Ben Kantarovski - Newcastle Jets
Billy Tsovlos - Portsmouth
Bradden Inman - Newcastle United
Cameron Parish - Preston North End
Chris Herd - Aston Villa
Christian Esposito - Albinoleffe
Daniel Ireland - Coventry City
Dean Bouzanis - Liverpool
Dylan Tombides - West Ham
Francesco Stella - AC Siena
Jack Watts - Barnsley
Jason Davidson - Pacos de Ferrieira
Julius Davies - Bayern Munich
Kearyn Baccus - Real Mallorca
Kofi Danning - Sydney FC
Liam Jacob - Liverpool
Mark Birighitti - Adelaide United
Mathew Leckie - Adelaide United
Matthew Fletcher - Sunderland
Matthew Pike - West Brom
Nick Kostadinoski - Doncaster
Patrick Meehan - Sheffield Wednesday
Paul Giannou - Kavala
Reece Caira - Aston Villa Although isn't he banned from playing till he's 18?
Robert Stambolziev - Panathinaikos
Robert Tall - Espanyol
Ryan Gazet Du Chattelier - Portsmouth
Ryan McGowan - Hearts
Scott Neville - Perth Glory
Shane Lowry - Aston Villa
Steve Masseli - Vicenza
Theo Markelis - Valencia
Thomas Oar - Brisbane Roar

How is Ryan going at Portsmouth? Knew him from U15s. I saw him practising at Darabin a few months ago when I was watching the Institute Challenge. Unfortunately, by the time I got a proper chance to speak to him, he'd packed up and gone.

http://dandenong-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/omar-gets-brazil-soccer-offer/

have any of you Aussie's ever heard of this kid. Omar Ammache, he supposably is a wonder talent and is 12 and impressed Atletico Mineiro staff so much that he earned himself a 3 month trial with the team.

At 12, no one is guaranteed to be successful. Wait until he is about 18 to see how he has matured.

Jason Davidson just made his debut for Portugese side Pacos de Ferreira:

Promising stuff

His Dad was very good

His dad was very good. Good to see jason get a run against porto. At 18 he will be one of the younger players going around in the liga sagres.