Birthdays and Caps: The Maturation Problem in Youth Development

On FIFA's web-site promoting the start of the U-17 World Cup in Nigeria the event is hyped as a chance to "discover the stars of tomorrow."� And while there is an impressive list of former participants (including, for example, Ronaldinho, Michael Essien, and Luis Figo) another look at the history of the U-17 World Cup offers more cautionary tales than burgeoning stars.