10 wonderkids who failed to reach their potential

#4 Florent Sinama-Pongolle

Florent Sinama-Pongolle appeared in 38 games for Liverpool, scoring nine goals

Like Vanden Borre, Florent Sinama-Pongolle also had a lengthy run in various European top leagues, but he has ended up in a very unusual place. The former French international plays in Thailand for Chonburi FC.

Sinama-Pongolle was the starman of the U17 World Championship in 2001. He was the top scorer with nine goals and was voted as the tournament's best player. He and Anthony Le Tallec led France to their first ever U17 World Cup win.

Both were soon snapped up by Liverpool and they had some good moments with the team, but neither of them really cemented their place at the club, even though they spent quite a few years there.

Sinama-Pongolle later had a decent run in La Liga with Recreativo Huelva and Atletico Madrid, but he soon fell off. There were spells in Russia and the MLS before he signed for Chonburi last year.

The star of the U17 side ended up having only one senior cap, which came in 2008.

Le Tallec, by the way, is currently playing in the Romanian league. Things have ended up completely different compared to what was expected from the French super duo. Can't help but wonder, whether or not they would've made it at Liverpool and would still be top class players (both are just a few months older than Cristiano Ronaldo) if Gerard Houllier stayed at the club beyond 2004.