10 wonderkids who failed to reach their potential

#9 Dawid Janczyk

Dawid Janczyk

With the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Arkadiusz Milik and Piotr Zielinski in the team, Poland currently has possibly their best ever team. It could have been even better if Dawid Janczyk delivered on his early promise.

Janczyk caught the eye at the 2007 U20 World Cup. He scored three goals in four matches, including in the Round of 16 against Argentina. He gave Poland the lead in the first half, but Angel Di Maria equalized before the break and Sergio Aguero scored two in the 3-1 win for the Argentinians who ended up as the tournament winners. They conceded just two goals during the whole competition.

A year later, after being signed by Russian powerhouse CSKA Moscow, Janczyk narrowly missed out on selection for the EURO 2008 tournament. It was certainly a blow for the then 20-year old striker, but he looked to be on his way up. His debut for the national side followed later in the year.

Janczyk played in the Champions League for CSKA and won a couple of Russian cups, but soon found himself surplus to requirements at the club. He had a pretty good loan spell at Lokeren in the Belgian top flight in 2009/10, scoring 14 times in 31 games, but never developed further.

The now 30-year old player returned to Poland in 2011. He represented his boyhood club Sandecja Nowy Sacz last season and helped them get promoted to the top flight for the very first time in club history. However, he failed to secure a contract for this season and the former "Polish Wayne Rooney" is currently without a club.