Juan Camilo Hernández
Club: Deportivo Pereira.
Position: Attacking midfielder.
Born: 22 April 1999.
A year ago, Juan Camilo Hernández was wondering whether to give up on
football all together. A draw against Leones had cost his side Pereira
promotion, a dream had just gone up in smoke and the pressure to study
was beginning to pinch. “I considered quitting that night, but I’m
mightily glad I didn’t,” chuckles Hernández. Twelve months on and things
look very different. Pereira are romping the second division and
Hernández is the league’s top scorer having got 16 goals by
mid-September. The youngest player to start a game for Pereira, aged 15,
and the club’s youngest scorer, he was given the captaincy on a
permanent basis this season; he’d just turned 17. Quick, cunning and
with terrific vision, Hernández has so far packed a lot into his
fledging professional career. Pereira won’t get to enjoy his talents
much longer, though; Europe most surely beckons.
Shan Huanhuan
Club: Beijing Guoan
Position: Forward
Born: 24 January 1999
This season he became the first player born in 1999 to play in the
Chinese Super League. The debut came courtesy of Alberto Zaccheroni, a
coach who knows a thing or two about good attackers. “He wouldn't be
playing if he wasn't good enough and he has a very bright future,” said
the Italian. Shan is powerful, good in the air and is not afraid to
shoot. One problem is that given the influx of expensive and talented
strikers into China he may not get much playing time but he has already
scored for China's Under-19 team.
David Salazar
Club: O'Higgins
Position: Attacking midfielder/forward
Born: 19 April 1999
Without putting too much pressure on Salazar, it is fair to say that his
playing characteristics are very similar to that of Alexis Sánchez –
Chile's greatest star. Salazar can play as an attacking midfielder in a
variety of positions, centrally or on the wing, or up front. He has
impressed in international under-17 tournaments for O'Higgins and has
been promoted to the first team, where he is mainly on the bench but is a
good option for the end of the games, especially if his side are
losing. At the age of 15 he was part of Chile's Under-17 squad for the
South American championship but did not make the World Cup squad.
Vladislav Zhikov
Club: A.C. Milan
Position: Midfielder
Born: 18 January 1999
Enjoyed a rapid rise to prominence after Milan’s coach, Vincenzo
Montella, invited him to train with the first team and included him in
the preliminary squad for September's Bournemouth friendly. The talented
Bulgarian midfielder first grabbed the headlines last year when he
scored against Arsenal in the prestigious Al Kass youth tournament in
Qatar. Zhikov has lived in Italy since he was four, when his parents
moved to Naples. There he took his first football steps along with
Milan’s prodigious goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. The Bulgaria
Under-17 player can also operate in central defence because of his
height and physique.
Nicolas Reis Bernardo
Club: Santos
Position: Forward
Born: 4 July 1999
They must be doing something right at Vila Belmiro, which has produced
Pelé, Robinho, Neymar and Gabriel Barbosa to name just a few of the
world-class players who have progressed from Santos's academy. And the
talents just keep coming. The latest one is Nicolas Reis Bernardo, who
has already been compared to Robinho. “Nicolas is a typical Santos boy,"
said Robinho, who has helped the youngster. "Irreverent, humble and
happy. He will have an amazing future. I trust a lot in him." Nicolas
even looks like Robinho and is aiming to reach the same heights as the
former Santos, Real Madrid and Manchester City player.
Fabrício Oya
Club: Corinthians
Position: Midfielder
Born: 23 July 1999
Fabrício Oya has everything as a player but what stands out is his
shooting – and his free-kicks in particular. “It’s something incredible –
his accuracy is excellent,” says Osmar Loss, the Corinthians under-20
coach who is an expert on young talent coming through in Brazil. His
first aim is to join up with the first team at Corinthians and then move
to Europe. Liverpool and Manchester United have made enquiries but he
is not keen to move just yet.
Luiz Fernando.
Club: Figueirense.
Position: Forward.
Born: 11 July 1999.
Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Neymar are three of many Brazilian superstars
who started out playing futsal – and Luiz Fernando has followed a
similar path. He played futsal for five years before moving to football
and is considered to be one of the best talents in the country in his
age group. He is showing the characteristics you would expect from a
futsal player – speed of thought and quick feet – and can play down the
middle or on the left. He is being scouted heavily by European clubs and
could leave the country before his proper breakthrough, just as Roberto
Firmino did when he moved from Figueirense to Hoffenheim.
