Two young Irish players have been named alongside players such as Christian Eriksen, Mario Gotze, Eden Hazard, Neymar and Lucas Moura as part of the "Top 101 Youngsters In The World" Don Balon list of 2012.
Over the past decade or so, at around this time every year, Spanish magazine Don Balon would compile their list of the top 100 youngsters in world football, but due to a tough economic situation and a scandal which lead to the arrest of their editor, the magazine is no more. Thankfully, 101greatgoals.com have kept the tradition alive, and 2011 saw their first attempt at compiling the list, which they decided to push to 101 for obvious reasons. The only rule for player eligibility is that the player must be born after January 1, 1991.
This year, the list of 101 contains two Irish players, Chris Forrester and Sean Murray.
Chris Forrester had an excellent season for St.Patrick's Athletic, netting 7 times in 10 league appearances, including this beautiful chip that you've probably already seen:
Sean Murray has been earning rave reviews at Watford and was named their 'Young Player Of The Year' after a great run of form following his senior debut in the FA Cup against Spurs back in January. Check out his highlight video here:
These two are certainly ones to look out for to be on the fringes of the national team in the coming years, although both are attack minded mid-fielders so with Trap in charge they could be waiting until their 30's for a call up.
View the 'Top 101 Young Players In World Football' list here.
