Those telling you to watch out for this young fellow were smugly mouthing 'told you' less than a year later as the boy from Clontarf burst on to the international scene with a blistering Six Nations hat-trick against France.
There was still 25 minutes remaining at that point, and Sunderland must have feared the worst, but Fulop denied Anelka a hat-trick from six yards out and Joe Cole hit the post with a header to give the away goal some respite.