Sergio AgueroThere's something in the South American water. Aguero wasted little time making an impression in senior football, having only just turned 15 when he represented Independiente for the first time. Still 11 months shy of his 16th birthday, the striker broke Maradona's record to become the youngest-everplayer in Argentina's top flight.Aguero had to remain patient for his next senior outing, but he later became the youngest all-time debutant in the Copa Libertadores, a record he held for three years. When he was 17, he scored what many Independiente fans regard to be the club's greatest goal.The Manchester City marksman has a nine-year-old son, Benjamin, who has six years to match the feats of his dad and uncle (Maradona's daughter is the child's mother).Ianis StoicaHopes are high for Stoica in Romania, but his father - the former Steaua Bucharest and Romania defenderPompiliu - will be keen to ensure that his son's feet remain firmly on the ground.At the scarely believable age of 14, Stoica Jr. becameSteaua's youngest ever player and goalscorer last year, finding the net after coming off the bench in a 6-1 defeat ofSanatatea Cluj. He's made three more first-team appearances since then, as well as appearing three times for Romania's under-16s.Freddy AduThe classic case.Fans ofChampionship Manager 4will fondly rememberAdu, who invariably went on to become one of the best players in the virtual world. The hype around the "next Pele" was ginormousin real lifetoo; the American became the highest-paid and youngest player in MLS after breaking through at D.C. United when he was just14.A trial with Manchester United followed, but Adu was unable to win a contract at Old Trafford and his career soon unravelled. The attacking midfielder, still only 29, spent four years on the books of Benfica but is now back in US football's second tierwith the Las Vegas Lights.PeleAdu was tipped to follow Pelefor a reason - the Brazilian had also been a teenage sensation, but unlike the American went on to realise his potential... and then some. Considered by many to be the greatest player of all time, Pele made his Santos bow two months before his 16th birthday, scoring in a 7-1 thrashing of Corinthians.Two years later he lifted the World Cup with Brazil at 17 - and to this day remainsthe youngest ever winner of the competition. Pele was named Young Player of the Tournament after scoringsix times, including twice in the final against Sweden. He remains the only player to win the World Cup three times.SEE ALSOExclusive interview: Pele on his Santos yearsDiego MaradonaMaradona, unsurprisingly, was another early bloomer. The future World Cup winner pulled on an Argentinos Juniors shirt for the first time 10 days before his 16th birthday; fewer than four months later, he became the youngster player in Argentinenational team history.English audiences caught a glimpse ofthe teenage Maradona in 1980, when the forward turnedin a dazzling display in a Wembley friendly. Six years later, he would play even better against the same opposition at the 1986 World Cup...Paulino AlcantaraBefore a certain Lionel Messi broke the record in 2014, the title of Barcelona's all-time top scorer belonged to Alcantara,who netted a staggering 369 goals in 357 games for the Blaugrana. Born in the Philippines, the forward moved to Spain as a youngster and was still growing into his big boy trousers when hescored a hat-trick on his senior debut in 1912, aged just 15.Alcantara– who remains Barcelona's youngest ever goalscorer– was also prolific for Spain, netting six times in five official appearances for his adopted nation.Gianni RiveraKnown as "Golden Boy" by the Italian public (as coined by his former manager Giuseppe Viani), Rivera (left) was a prodigiously talented youngster who caught the eye from an early age. His maiden professional outing came for hometown club Alessandria as a 15-year-old, before the forward joined European giants Milan aged 17 in 1960.Rivera also hit the ground running at San Siro, making 30 league appearances in his debut campaign as theRossonerifinished second in Serie A. He spent a total of 19 years at Milan, winning three Serie A titles and two European Cups.Martin OdegaardOdegaard is only 19 and stillhas his whole career ahead of him, but he's yet to live up to the early hype. The Norwegian shot to fame in August 2014 when he made his debut for the national team aged 15, having already played a handful of games for club sideStromsgodset.Real Madrid came calling at the start of 2015, with Odegaard initially joining their reserve side - then managed by Zinedine Zidane. Almost four years on and he'splayed just twice forlos Blancos' first team, with the attacker currently on loan at Dutch outfit Vitesse after a spell at Heerenveen."Ihoped that I'd have a place in Real's team," he sighed toVoetbal Internationalrecently."I was training all summer long and got some minutes in the first team. At the end of the summer, the club and I decided that it would be better for me to play elsewhere."Mauricio BaldiviesoParaguayan youngster Ovelar hit the headlines recently, but hedoesn't come close to being the youngest ever professional footballer. That accolade is held byBaldivieso, who - somehow- made his debut for Aurora in the Bolivian top flight at the age of 12 (according to unverified records, it must be said).There's more to the story than initially meets the eye, though: the club were managed byBaldivieso's father, Julio Cesar, who soon quit after beingtold to drop his son. Nepotism doesn't pay, folks.Now 22, the midfielder is currently without a club.Fernando GarciaGarcia is 31 now, but the striker was just 13 years and 11 months old when he made his debut for Peruvian side Juan Aurich in June 2001. He was therefore the record holder beforeBaldivieso, and his early start is perhaps even more impressive when you take into account the fact that his dad wasn't the manager.The hitman won 11 caps for Peru's U20s in 2006 and 2007, but he was never able to make the step up to the senior side.New features every day on FourFourTwo.com
