Ryan Babel also signed for Liverpool shortly after, while Hedwiges Maduro has moved to Valencia since and Daniel de Ridder, Gianni Zuiverloon and Ryan Donk played in the Barclays Premier League last season.

On the other side of the coin, Maceo Rigters led the attack for the hosts and winners of that tournament but has struggled to make an impact in the two years that have passed. The same goes for England Under-21 striker Leroy Lita.

The Euros at that age level can be the platform for better things but equally can offer false hope.

Holland won in 2006 as well, with Klaas Jan Huntelaar leading their attack, but they failed to qualify for this year's tournament and there will be a new set of youngster looking to take centre stage.

There are established names already, with the likes of England's Theo Walcott and Bojan Krkic of Spain arriving with huge reputations already. In Walcott's case, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger did not want his winger to travel as he thought the workload would be too much.

Walcott and Bojan are expected to be at the World Cup next year, so this is their warm-up for tournament football in a summer - something the Englishman is already familiar with having been an unused member of Sven-Goran Eriksson's squad at the World Cup in 2006.

England last won the tournament in 1984 when Mark Hateley won the Golden Player award. That was their second successive victory but they have failed to even reach the final since.

Other former Golden Players are now iconic figures around the world. Italy pair Andrea Pirlo and Fabio Cannavaro both played key roles in the Azzurri winning the World Cup in 2006.

Luis Figo and Davor Suker were also rewarded for their performances when they featured for Portugal and Croatia respectively, as was Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech when he turned out for the Czech Republic.

Winners of the accolade a bit further back include Germany striker Rudi Voller and France defender Laurent Blanc.

These players may not have been known throughout the world at the time but they have certainly made their mark since - and the challenge for the likes of Mark Noble and James Milner is to follow their example.