Three Iberian prodigies who went to Merseyside as starlets will line up in the opening game of the African Nations Cup today looking to add some lustre to careers that have failed to sparkle.

Francisco Junior, Emmanuel Mendy and Toni Silva were snapped up by Everton and Liverpool as teenagers but never made the grade in the English Premier League.

Now the stage of a major continental championship gives them the opportunity to put aside past disappointment and revive careers that have not lived up to their promise.

They will all play for Guinea Bissau, who make their Nations Cup debut in today’s opening match in Libreville against hosts Gabon.

There will be a debut for 24-year-old Junior, who has recently switched his international allegiance to the country where he was born before moving to Portugal as a child.

Nomadic career

Versatile defender Emmanuel Mendy, who grew up in Spain, went from Murcia to Liverpool’s academy, aged 18, in 2008 and spent four years at the club. But despite getting a squad number for the 2010-11 season, he never played and has led a nomadic existence since, appearing for clubs in Georgia, Latvia and Romania, where his last team went bankrupt.

Silva, 23, has already played once for Guinea Bissau, scoring on his debut in his country’s shock win over Zambia in June that catapulted the unfancied side into the finals for the first time.

Silva left Liverpool for Barnsley, who released him after a single outing inside a year. Over the last two years he has played at clubs in Bulgaria, Turkey, Portugal and now at Levadiakos in Greece.

Junior, 24, was signed on a long-term contract by Everton but played just 45 minutes of first-team football in four years and is now in Norway, having developed a reputation for ill-discipline.