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#8 Landon Donovan
Perhaps the greatest footballer that United States ever produced, Landon Donovan broke into USA’s youth teams in 1998 and played for them at the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Cup where he scored three goals throughout the tournament as they ended the tournament in 4th place after they lost the 3rd place play-off to Ghana 2-0. Donovan was named the Best Player of the Tournament and was awarded the Golden Ball.
Donovan made his senior debut in 2000 and played for the USA at the 2002 World Cup where they reached the quarter-finals. He scored 2 goals during the tournament- against Poland in the group stage and against Mexico in the round of 16. The 20-year old forward would be eventually named the Best Young Player of the Tournament and was also named in the 7-man reserve Team of the Tournament.
Donovan would score at the World Cup again in 2010, in USA’s 2-2 draw against Slovenia in the group stage. The forward scored a last-gasp winner in USA’s final group game against Algeria to send The Stars and Stripes into the next round where he plundered his third goal of the tournament in an eventual 2-1 defeat to Ghana.
#7 Esteban Cambiasso
Just when he began his youth career at Argentinos Juniors, Esteban Cambiasso represented Argentina at the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Egypt at the age of 14, thus being the youngest player in the squad. Argentina won all their group games to qualify for the quarter-finals where they beat Ecuador 3-1 to reach the semi-finals.
In the semi-finals, Argentina were beaten 3-0 by eventual runners-up Brazil. In the 3rd place play-off, the Albiceleste were up against Oman and were in the lead after only 20 minutes thanks to Fernando Gatti. With 19 minutes to go, 14-year old Cambiasso doubled Argentina’s lead to assure them of the bronze medal.
Cambiasso helped Argentina win the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship and captained them at the 1999 edition before making his national team debut in 2000. The defensive midfielder played his first World Cup at the 2006 World Cup where he scored one of the goals of the tournament during Argentina’s second group game against Serbia and Montenegro.
This was to be Cambiasso’s last World Cup as he was surprisingly left out of Argentina’s squad for the 2010 World Cup and retired from international football in 2011 after scoring 5 goals from 52 appearances.
