Surely it’s not just us who thought that Joe Cole would be about 20 forever?
But no: somehow, almost 20 years on from his West Ham debut against Swansea in the FA Cup as a wide-eyed 17-year-old, the Londoner is finally calling it a day at the ripe old age of 37.
Cole was most recently player/assistant coach of America’s Tampa Bay Rowdies, who he originally signed for in May 2016 after a stint at Coventry. But the gifted midfielder will be best known for his burgeoning promise at West Ham, followed by seven excellent years at Chelsea during which he won six major honours.
His stunning goal for England against Sweden at the 2006 World Cup will go down as one of his country’s best of all time – one of 10 strikes in a 56-cap international career which sadly didn’t live up to its promise (much like many among his talented generation, it must be said).
For today’s quiz, though, we’re looking for the West Ham and Manchester United players who featured in Cole’s Premier League debut on January 10, 1999. The teenager was a half-time substitute for the Hammers in their 4-1 defeat against the would-be champions, and by the end of the month had started his first league game against Wimbledon.
You’ve got seven minutes to reel as many missing men as you can from Old Trafford that day, then tell us your scores @FourFourTwo – as usual, a place on our daily Twitter leaderboard up for grabs. Go get’ em.
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