5 Players you probably did not know are still playing professional football
The football world has been kind to some, cruel to many. While some make it big, others either fail to live up to their reputation or never really get going. Some players are just a flash in the pan while others fade out.A second chance comes rarely in this brutal, competitive world. Here we look at some of the players who had promised much and had built a reputation for themselves, but now are distant memories in the mind of football fans. These players are still playing, and some might get that rare second chance.
#1 Joe Cole
One of the hottest prospects in English football right from the age of 16, when Manchester United were reportedly ready to pay his youth club West Ham £10 million for his services, Joe Cole sort of lived up to his expectations and then faded out all of a sudden.
Indeed, when he joined Chelsea from West Ham in 2003 where he was the captain for the second half of their season and also the winner of the ‘Hammer of the year’ award, Chelsea coach Claudio Ranieri saw him as the perfect replacement for Gianfranco Zola.
He had his share of success at Chelsea, scoring goals and winning 3 Premier League titles, 3 FA Cups, 2 League Cups and 2 Community Shields. But subsequent transfers to Liverpool, Lille and Aston Villa did not help his career as he was struck by injuries and scored only a handful of goals.
Currently, he is on loan to Coventry City in the third tier of English Football (League 1). A proper slide to a career that had promised much.