SOME UNFULFILLED PROMISES.

Byline: NICK GREEN

A sadly recurring theme is the succession of supremely talented players who for one reason or another never quite live up to their early potential or their prodigious talents.

Some, like George Best who quit Manchester United at age 27, simply can't handle the pressure and walk away from the game in their prime.

Others, such as former Brazilian international Denilson, a less than one season MLS wonder last year with FC Dallas and once the world's most expensive player, lose the hunger to excel and are content to quietly globetrot in search of a hefty paycheck.

Then there are those who suffer career-ending injuries, leaving fans to wonder what might have been.

Into that latter group falls D.C. United's international midfielder Ben Olsen, who announced last weekend that a chronic ankle injury might force him into retirement at the age of 31.

Olsen may seem an odd choice as a player who never completely lived up to his early promise, given his almost decade-long MLS career with D.C. United that included being named 1999 MLS Cup MVP.

But Olsen arguably never recovered from the ankle injury with England's Nottingham Forest that consigned him to the sidelines for 18 months in 2001.

Largely stripped of his once mercurial pace, he was never the same player, and instead of becoming a mainstay with the national team, was limited to fewer than 30 starts over 10 years.

A former national high school player of the year, collegiate player of the year and the 1998 MLS Rookie of the Year, his professional career never matched that obvious youthful pedigree.

Which raises the question, what other American players failed to fulfill their destiny, their precocious talents fizzling out instead of ascending to the expected heights?

There's no shortage of candidates, including striker Eddie Johnson, who scored eight goals during his first nine games for the U.S. in 2004 and 2005, but now can't nail down a regular starting slot with lowly Fulham in the English Premier League. But at age 24, Johnson still has plenty of time to recover his career momentum and prove his detractors wrong.

So who else could join Olsen -- fame just eluding them, a place in the record books unsecured?

Here are four other players one could argue never completely fulfilled their early promise:

John O'Brien -- The MLS career of the classy midfielder from Playa del Rey lasted all of five minutes with Chivas USA, but it's with the U.S. National Team and Holland's Ajax that he earned his reputation.

Once described by none other than Landon Donovan as the most technically gifted U.S. player ever, O'Brien was in full flow with a stellar campaign at the 2002 World Cup, his soccer brain and uncanny passing ability playing a massive role in seeing the U.S. through to a place in the last eight.

Alas, O'Brien was beset by a succession of debilitating injuries that cruelly sapped his on-field finesse and forced his retirement before the age of 30.

Clint Mathis -- In his day, the former Sports Illustrated cover boy could destroy opposing defenses at will, once scoring an unprecedented five goals in a game.

But Mathis was the epitome of inconsistency and his reputation as a head case without peer marred his career. The Galaxy prepared to take another chance on him earlier this year, but Mathis shipped out for an unfashionable Greek team and it's likely his MLS career is done at age 31.

Jovan Kirovski -- A former Manchester United reserve player, he became the only American to win a UEFA Champions League medal with Germany's Borussia Dortmund in 1997.

But a massive ego and humdrum performances with the Galaxy saw him dumped on Colorado in 2005, where the 32-year-old seems content to play out his career and has yet to see the field so far this year.

Eddie Pope -- The now retired defender seems an unlikely pick for this list, considering his more than 80 games for the U.S. as a virtual fixture on the backline for a decade and his winning goal at the 1996 MLS Cup during his rookie season for D.C. United.

But Pope was once seen as perhaps the nation's first world class defender, with top clubs from Italy, Spain and elsewhere thought to be vying for his services.

He never quite made the breakthrough to the top level in Europe, perhaps content with his stature domestically, and his MLS minutes were limited at a crucial time by a series of injuries.

D.C. eventually punted him to the awful MetroStars in 2003 and he unprepossessingly played his final two seasons at similarly wretched Real Salt Lake, not a place likely to enhance one's defensive stature.

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Ben Olsen, right, who was named 1999 MLS Cup MVP, might have to retire at age 31 because of a chronic ankle injury. He is just one of many players who arguably never fulfilled his early promise.

Jonathan Daniel/MLS via Getty Images

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