The Upcoming Generation of Superstars: The Dream Generation of 2003
The year 2003 was a year of many exceptional events. The Czech Republic's accession to the European Union was decided in a referendum, France was led by football enthusiast Jacques Chirac, Pavel Nedvěd won the Golden Ball as the only Czech to date, a strong generation of Czech hockey players was born (Jiříček, Svozil, Suchánek, Brabenec), but also a strong global generation of football players was born. And it is these that we will focus on.
Five world stars
If you have five players in one generation who are among the best in the world at their position at a young age, you don't need any more proof of how strong a generation this is. There are four of those guys at the number ten position.
Jude Bellingham is shining at Real Madrid. The generational talent, who was the youngest player in history (later surpassed by Kacper Kozlowski), is the driving force of the royal club and the English national team. In two seasons at Real, he was involved in 56 goals. If it weren't for the damaged shoulder, which causes Bellingham to end matches in pain, his statistics would be more impressive. And if it weren't for the gradual stagnation in his first season, he would be a hot candidate for the Golden Ball.
Germany has super talented players in this position for a change. Florian Wirtz is moving to Liverpool from Leverkusen, while Bayern's offensive demon is Jamal Musiala. Wirtz recently became the third most expensive player in history, he was involved in 122 goals for Leverkusen, and he is also shining in the national team. Musiala is also shining in the national team, he also has over a hundred prepared goals in his career, and the idea of Germany having someone like Harry Kane, the main favorite to be the world champion next year, is in the world.
In Leipzig, for a change, the pair of Xavi Simons-Benjamin Šeško shines. The cooperation of these two is leading Leipzig upwards, although the club has not had a good season. Simons and Šeško have a combined total of over 90 Canadian points in two seasons, both are worth 70 million euros, both are the driving force behind their national teams. Both players are interested in English clubs, and Leipzig will also lose a lot of money due to the absence of European cups. Are both players in line for big transfers?
Other great offensive players: Jhon Durán, Mika Biereth, Rasmus Höjlund, Liam Delap, Rayan Cherki, Harvey Elliott, Johan Bakayoko
Promising defensive stars
However, where there is a large concentration of promising players, it is also in defense. Alejandro Baldé has been shining in Barcelona for several seasons and if it weren't for frequent injuries, he would be several levels further. Ousmane Diomandé, on the other hand, grew up in Sporting under Ruben Amorim and it is no wonder that billion-dollar offers are flying around him. A strong, technical and fast defender, who is only 21 years old? That's what you want!
The power of the youth academy was demonstrated by Chelsea and Real Madrid. At a time when both teams had many injured players, young defenders Levi Colwill and Raúl Asencio took hold. It can be said that they are similar types to Diomandé, but compared to the elastic African, these two players are more powerful. Colwill and Asencio are perfect examples that youth academies are not just for fun and that it is simply good to give a chance to your own youth academy. Another promising defender , António Silva from Benfica, is a similar case.
However, talents are also hidden on the edges of the defense. The eternally absent Reece James was reliably replaced at Chelsea by Malo Gusto. He shines after the transfer from Lyon, he is fast, aggressive, but sometimes he gets away with some nasty tackles. The same applies to Miloš Kerkez, who is headed to Liverpool. The young Hungarian will replace the experienced Andy Robertson and it must be said that he is the best possible choice. Fast, aggressive, great passer. Liverpool will have a great team!
Other great defensive players: António Silva, Álvaro Carreras, Giorgio Scalvini, Lucas Beraldo, Zeno Debast
Spanish force in reserve
As for the classic midfielders, the Spaniards will occupy the largest space here. The best player in this position is clearly Pablo Barrios from Atlético. Despite his undeniable qualities, he is far from being in the starting lineup of the national team. It is not surprising when you have players like Rodri, Pedri, Gavi, Zubimendi or Merino in this position. However, it will not be long before Barrios will be here too.
There are other great talents in Spain, Valencia's Javi Guerra is a famous box-to-box midfielder, the same goes for Barcelona's Fermín López and Marco Casado. All of these players are incredibly dynamic, have an incredible sense of passing, are key players in building up the game. And if that wasn't enough, Ander Herrera's successor at Bilbao, who has the same attributes as the aforementioned, is the talented Basque Mikel Jauregizar. What can I say? Spain is simply great!
Other great midfielders: Alberto Moleiro, Omari Hutchinson, Alex Scott, Martin Baturina, Yasin Ayari
Goalkeepers still need to mature
For Czech fans, it is great news that the most valuable player of this year is Tottenham goalkeeper Antonín Kinský. Although he did not start his engagement at Tottenham perfectly, his colleague Vicario is not in dazzling form either. Kinský is even more valuable than Jonas Urbig from Bayern Munich, who should soon replace Manuel Neuer.
As for other valuable world players born in 2003 in the goalkeeper position, we have our faces here too. Specifically Radek Vítek, who is still a regular player for Manchester United, worth two million euros.
Other great goalkeepers: Obed Nkambadio, Kacper Trelowski, Robin Roefs, Veljko Ilić, Álex Padilla
Czech Republic and the year 2003
However, a strong year is also lurking in the Czech Republic. We could see this at the last Euro, where only unnecessary mistakes dashed the Czech team's hopes of advancing.
The most valuable player in the field is defender Martin Vitík, who is worth eleven million euros, but his value is four million euros lower than it was a few months ago, which is due to a poor season at Sparta. Although he is not doing well in Norwich, Matěj Jurásek is also a valuable player. He is still getting used to English football, has struggled with injuries, but he is one of the most talented Czech players in his position.
Adam Karabec is experiencing a career restart in Germany, having kicked off promotion to the Bundesliga in Hamburg. Karabec is slowly fulfilling his potential, which he discovered in the port city. The careers of Karel Spáčil and Patrik Vydra are on an incredible rise. Spáčil played in the regional championship two years ago, and is now moving to Pilsen for forty million crowns. Vydra was watched by clubs from the English league in the small Euro, specifically Sunderland and Brentford.
BU1 also has a promising presence here, thanks to Sigma Olomouc goalkeeper Tadeáš Stoppen. Although he has been more of a back-up for his colleague (and also the face of BU1) Honz Koutný this year, there is no doubt that Stoppen is one of the most promising faces of the 2003 season.
If the Czech national team can build on anyone after a long time, it is definitely the players born in 2003. After the failure to build on the players around the silver twenty from 2007 or the silver nineteen from 2011, this seems to be a very strong generation. And it would be a shame if this generation also failed. They are meant to be successful.
Other talented players from the Czech Republic: Štěpán Chaloupek, Filip Prebsl, Filip Vecheta, Denis Višinský, Kryštof Daněk, Denis Halinský, Lukáš Endl, Vojtěch Stránský
