FourFourTwo's 100 best young players in 2001 list re-emerges and makes for incredible reading

FourFourTwo's list of the 100 best young players in the world in 2001 has re-emerged - and it makes for fascinating reading over two decades on.

The year 2000 had seen the crowning of Luis Figo as the Ballon d'Or winner, while the likes of Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and Thierry Henry were some of the other stars of world football.

It would be under a decade until Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi began to dominate the sport, as the stars that opened up the millennium started to wind down their careers.

Neither Ronaldo nor Messi were too young in 2001 to be considered, but there are still plenty of familiar names to football fans on FourFourTwo's 100 best young players list.

Future Ballon d'Or winner Kaka, then at Sao Paulo, was placed in 95th, with Bayer Leverkusen youngster Dimitar Berbatov in 82nd.

Football Manager players will recognise the name of Millwall wonderkid Cherno Samba in 71st - seven places ahead of Bastia's Michael Essien.

Arsenal's first representative on the list is France forward Jeremie Aliadiere (52nd), with future United States icon Landon Donovan four spots behind him.

Premier League cult heroes Niko Kranjcar and Mido are among the top 40 players.

Then comes perhaps the most successful name on the list so far - 35th-placed Zlatan Ibrahimovic, then of Ajax.

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West Ham's Jermain Defoe, PSV's Arjen Robben and Sporting Lisbon's Ricardo Quaresma are among places 20 to 30.

In 20th position is future Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta - but FourFourTwo rated him six places behind Liverpool youngster and future EFL stalwart John Welsh.

The top 10 is fascinating, with several names that fans may not even be aware of.

Liverpool striker Anthony Le Tallec is positioned ninth - two places behind then team-mate and cousin Florent Sinama-Pongolle and three behind Ajax starlet Rafael van der Vaart.

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Arsenal wonderkid Jermaine Pennant was considered the fifth-best youngster in the world in 2001.

In fourth place is Atletico Madrid's Fernando Torres, while Vitoria midfielder Leandro Bonfim was in third.

Brazilian midfielder Bonfim signed for PSV in 2002, making 18 appearances before joining Porto three years later.

He then spent much of the rest of his career in Brazil but with little notable success.

River Plate midfielder Andres D'Alessandro - who once had a short-lived but successful loan spell at Portsmouth in 2006 - was in second place. The creative midfielder spent most of his career with Internacional in Brazil, and collected 25 caps for Argentina.

And the best young player in 2001, according to FourFourTwo, was Djibril Cisse.

The France striker scored 70 goals in 128 appearances for French side Auxerre, before earning a move to Liverpool in 2004.

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He lifted the Champions League in 2005, but never hit top form at Anfield and left the club to join Marseille in 2007.

Cisse scored goals regularly in three different countries, with successful spells at Marseille and Panathinaikos followed by a spell at QPR, where his six goals in eight games in 2011/12 kept the team in the Premier League.

He retired in 2017 after a spell with Swiss side Yverdon-Sport, before briefly returning to the sport in 2021.

The full list is below:

• 100. Alexander Hleb (VfB Stuttgart)
• 99. David Prutton (Nottingham Forest)
• 98. Erdal Kilicaslan (Bayern Munich)
• 97. Daniyel Cimen (Eintracht Frankfurt)
• 96. Benjamin Auer (Borussia Monchengladbach)
• 95. Kaka (Sao Paulo)
• 94. Azar Karadas (SK Brann)
• 93. Shaun Maloney (Celtic)
• 92. Leonardo Santiago (Feyenoord)
• 91. Kieran Richardson (Manchester United)
• 90. Aldo Jara (Cerro Porteno)
• 89. Keith Kelly (Paris Saint-Germain)
• 88. Christoph Preuss (Eintracht Frankfurt)
• 87. Ramon Calliste (Manchester United)
• 86. Mika Vayrynen (Jokerit)
• 85. Michael Zepek (Bayer Leverkusen)
• 84. Labinot Harbuzi (Malmo)
• 83. Thijs Houwing (Twente)
• 82. Dimitar Berbatov (Bayer Leverkusen)
• 81. Tuomas Aho (Myllykosken Pallo −47)
• 80. Candido Costa (Porto)
• 79. Andres Oliveira (Perth Glory)
• 78. Michael Essien (Bastia)
• 77. Fernando Macedo Nano (Barcelona)
• 76. Dulee Johnson (BK Hacken)
• 75. Mauro Rosales (Newell’s Old Boys)
• 74. Derek Boateng (Panathinaikos)
• 73. Theo Janssen (Vitesse)
• 72. Hassan Ahamada (Nantes)
• 71. Cherno Samba (Millwall)
• 70. Matteo Brighi (Juventus)
• 69. Bojan Djordjic (Manchester United)
• 68. Andreas Hinkel (VfB Stuttgart)
• 67. Santino Quaranta (DC United)
• 66. Jhon van Beukering (Vitesse)
• 65. Eddie Johnson (FC Dallas)
• 64. Michael Chopra (Newcastle United)
• 63. Rubinho (Corinthians)
• 62. Mark Fotheringham (Celtic)
• 61. Johnnier Montano (Parma/Hellas Verona)
• 60. Serhat Akin (Fenerbahce)
• 59. Carlos Martins (Sporting CP)
• 58. Filip Trojan (Schalke 04)
• 57. Ricardo Costa (Porto)
• 56. Landon Donovan (San Jose Earthquakes)
• 55. Alexander Ludwig (Werder Bremen)
• 54. Lourenco da Silva (Sporting CP)
• 53. Francesco Tarantino (Athletic Bilbao)
• 52. Jeremie Aliadiere (Arsenal)
• 51. Gatti Ribeiro (Blooming)
• 50. Massimo Donati (AC Milan)
• 49. Francesco Lodi (Empoli/Parma)
• 48. Gael Givet (Monaco)
• 47. Ewerthon (Borussia Dortmund)
• 46. Christian Petereit (Schalke 04)
• 45. Niko Kranjcar (Dinamo Zagreb)
• 44. Jay Lucas (Southampton)
• 43. Diego Ribas (Santos)
• 42. Joaquin Sanchez (Real Betis)
• 41. Ahmed ‘Mido’ Hossam (Ajax)
• 40. Helder Postiga (Porto)
• 39. Emiliano Dudar (Velez Sarsfield)
• 38. Chris Kirkland (Liverpool)
• 37. Ednilson (Benfica)
• 36. Dean Ashton (Crewe Alexandra)
• 35. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Ajax)
• 34. Leandro Romagnoli (San Lorenzo)
• 33. Hassan Yebda (Auxerre)
• 32. Marat Izmailov (Lokomotiv Moscow)
• 31. Gareth Barry (Aston Villa)
• 30. Jermain Defoe (West Ham United)
• 29. Gregory Vignal (Liverpool)
• 28. Julio Colombo (Montpellier)
• 27. Arjen Robben (Groningen/PSV Eindhoven)
• 26. Hugo Viana (Sporting CP)
• 25. Maicon (Cruzeiro)
• 24. Ricardo Quaresma (Sporting CP)
• 23. Fabricio Coloccini (AC Milan/Alaves)
• 22. Marius Niculae (Sporting CP)
• 21. Milan Baros (Liverpool)
• 20. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
• 19. Baldo di Gregorio (Eintracht Frankfurt)
• 18. Juan Andreu Melli (Real Betis)
• 17. Johnny Heitinga (Ajax)
• 16. Philippe Mexes (Auxerre)
• 15. Kim Kallstrom (BK Hacken)
• 14. John Welsh (Liverpool)
• 13. Darren Fletcher (Manchester United)
• 12. David Odonkor (Borussia Dortmund)
• 11. Pedro Mantorras (Benfica)
• 10. Mourad Meghni (Bologna)
• 9. Anthony Le Tallec (Le Havre/Liverpool)
• 8. Piotr Trochowski (Bayern Munich)
• 7. Florent Sinama-Pongolle (Le Havre/Liverpool)
• 6. Rafael van der Vaart (Ajax)
• 5. Jermaine Pennant (Arsenal)
• 4. Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid)
• 3. Leandro Bonfim (Vitoria/PSV Eindhoven)
• 2. Andres D'Alessandro (River Plate)
• 1. Djibril Cisse (AJ Auxerre)