Colin Sheridan: Let Adeleke and Ferguson enjoy the here and now

Today, Rhasidat Adeleke, 20, and Evan Ferguson, 18, stand on the precipice of a type of greatness none of us could ever really imagine for ourselves, and certainly not for our kids

HOT PROSPECT: Brighton and Hove Albion's Evan Ferguson. Pic: PA

“Because children grow up, we think a child’s purpose is to grow up. But a child’s purpose is to be a child. Nature does not disdain what only lives for a day. It pours the whole of life into each moment. We don't value the lily less for not being made of flint and built to last. Life’s bounty is in its flow. Later is too late.” - The character of Alexander Herzen, in Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia 

On the 19th October 2004, the calamity of the Iraq War was quickly unravelling, Charlie McCreevey had just passed the baton of Minister for Finance on to Brian Cowen, and Arsenal (!) were top of the Premier League. It had been a couple of months since a profoundly underwhelming summer Olympics for Irish athletes in Athens. In Tallaght, Co Dublin, Rhasidat Adeleke - not long walking - had just turned two. Some 60 kilometres up the road from the infant Adeleke, a little baby boy by the name of Evan Ferguson was born.