The word “poverty” is one-word many humans do not want to be associated with. Like in Africa or other parts of the world, people who experience tremendous poverty are most times regarded as insignificant.
Poverty is one bad thing so much so that the good books frown at it. The Bible said in the book of Proverbs that “the destruction of the poor is their poverty” and goes further to say that “a poor fellow is hated because of his poverty“.
All across the world, around 600 million people live in abject poverty and when parents become incapacitated to provide the basic amenities for their children, such family is bound to witness the sorry and gorry aspect of life.
But thankfully, the beautiful game of football is known to be one of the most-watched game, the game itself is an expression of collective team culture and individuality. Poverty is undoubtedly tragic in nature but football has been a tool to curb much-underprivileged ones to improve their financial circumstances.
Let’s try and have a rumination about what would’ve happened to the following people if they hadn’t become footballers through their commitment and hard work and the never say die spirit they adopted to ensure they become great.
Franck Ribery – France / Florentina
The French international is definitely one of the finest footballers in the world. Born in the northern region of France, the 37-year old was from a poor background.
At the age of 2, a fatal car accident almost killed Ribery which as a result of the reason he had many scars on his face. He vowed never to have a plastic surgery right after the ugly incident that nearly sent him to an early grave.
Having scars did not deter him from chasing his dreams even as the son of a poor father. At a tender age, he worked as a laborer at a construction company to help his father make ends meet.
Fast forward to now, the former Bayern Munich winger has bagged the European Player of the year award and narrowly missed being crowned as a Ballon D’or winner.
Yaya Toure – Ivory Coast / Qingdao Huanghai
Yaya came from a family of seven and he’s a younger brother to Arsenal legend, Kolo Toure. Yaya’s struggle was the normal kind of struggle every African child will go through while growing up.
Having spent years kicking football around with barefoot in the streets of Cote D’Ivoire, the former Manchester City star got his first pair of the boot at the age of 10.
Yaya told The Guardian in an interview in 2011 “boots were very expensive, and when there are seven children in your family and you say you want to buy a pair of boots, your father wants to kill you”
He clearly latched on the opportunity he got when the time came for him at ASEC Mimosas as a youth Player – he used the club as a jumping-off place to launch into Europe with Belgian outfit from where he has gone on to ply his trade in Ukraine, Greece, France, Spain, and England.
Alexis Sanchez- Chile / Inter Milan (Loan)
Alejandro Alexis Sanchez was born in Tocopilla (Chile) on December 19, 1988, he plays for Cobreloa in his youth days where he also played alongside nationals teammates like Charles Aranguis and Eduardo Vargas, he was a boy determined to succeed in order to help improve his mother’s life, Alexis mother clean for schools just to make ends meet for the family as his father was out of the picture. “When she was cleaning in the school I hid because I didn’t like to see her there,” Alexis has said.
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The Ex-Barcelona star works in a local mine and also washed cars to help make extra income for his family while playing as a professional footballer. He made his international debut against New Zealand on April 27, 2006, and making almost 100 caps for the Chilean national side.
Had he not made a mark as a successful footballer Alexis Sanchez would likely have ended been a full-time miner.
Angel Di Maria – Argentina/ PSG
Many who see this Argentine doing wonders for PSG would think he had it all rosy as a young boy growing up in Argentina but the truth is that life before football was not easy for him. He grew up in a small Argentine town and his family had very little.
His parents worked at a coal yard where he and his sister also assisted their parents in working at the horrible place – just as the popular verse coined from the Bible, and given more emphatic meaning in Nigeria “person wey nor work, no go chop“.
Also, the former Real Madrid and Manchester United Player shared a room with his sister in a house that was falling apart. His parents’ job as was at the coal yard for sixteen years before Di Maria signed for Benfica and demanded that he wants to quit the job.
Di maria growing up in poverty has always given him the right sense of responsibilities, perspective other cash-spoiled footballers of today don’t have, living his dream and asked his father to stop working and bought a house for both his parents and sisters.
Zlatan Ibrahimović – Sweeden/ AC Milan
As a young man growing up, the Swede was in a tough neighborhood of Malmo in Sweden where he learned how to pick locks and steal bikes to training to develop his football skills alongside his accomplices in his streets.
The lanky player had the past that explains his deep mentality of “me against the world” things became difficult as his parent’s divorce just when he was 2-years old, he began playing at the age of 6 for FC Malmo and was a regular for the hometown club. Ibrahimovic almost quit his football career at the age of 15 due to hardship, working at the docks in Malmo, but was convinced by his manager to never give up and continue playing.
Zlatan suffered from poverty and prejudice and not until he was 18 did he truly see his own potential as a footballer – and as they say, the rest is history.
Neymar – Brazil / PSG
Neymar is another player that was involved in a car accident as a kid. Just after four months of living, his parents believed they already lost their child after the car accident left him bloodied.
Fortunately for the Brazilian, he survived the accident but grew up in a cramped room in his grandfather’s house, shared with his sister and parents.
At 13, he already attracted the attention of Real Madrid at Santos but ironically went back to Santos only to return back to Spain in 2013 to become a Barcelona player.
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Sadio Mane -Senegal / Liverpool
The journey of this young man to stardom is unique. Growing up in Sedhiou, a village in Western Senegal where there was not a single hospital. This made most of the inhabitants of the city settle for agriculture jobs but Mane had a plan B.
Contrary to the will of his parents, he played football endlessly on dusty streets, playing whenever there was a game. At 15, against the will of his parents, he traveled to Senegal’s capital Dakar for a trial.
The trial which is parents never wanted to support brought about transformation for Sadio and his family. His talent took him to France where he caught the eye of Southampton and later made way into the Liverpool team to become an integral part of the team.
He’s currently giving back to his community; he went back home last year to monitor the progress of a school he’s building and gave out kits to the less privileged. Also, he had sent to Senegal some money to take care of the victims of Coronavirus pandemic.
Luka Modric – Croatia/ Real Madrid
Luka was at the age of 5 when the independence war broke out in Croatia in 1991. And just a couple of months thereafter, his grandfather was brutally murdered as part of the conflict.
The unfortunate traumatizing incident made the Real Madrid playmaker live in an impromptu refugee camp in his village. Amidst the unrest in the county at that time, he was kicking a football around barefooted – trying to do what he loves doing the most.
After the war ended, the young Modric had grown in ranks at his club NK Zadar and from there attracted the Dinamo Zagreb. As this stands, Luka is Croatia’s greatest footballer.
Steven Pienaar- South Africa/ Retired
Experiencing childhood in a politically-sanctioned racial segregation (Apartheid) era, The Southern nation was a hazardous environment for Pienaar while growing up, describing local Westbury as a cauldron of brutality and difficulty.
Pienaar recalled being prohibited by his mom from sitting on the lounge chair to sit in front of the TV, as she dreaded a stray bullet would come flying through the window – so he was limited to sitting on the floor.
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The ex-Everton man has likewise reviewed an awful series of racism he faced in view of the shade of his skin – and the delight he felt when the riot came to an end in 1994.
While Pienaar had the option to get away from the danger of Westbury by choosing football, a lot of people were not – not long after Ajax secure his, a close friend of his was sadly lost to the pandemonium of Westbury.
Dani Alves- Brazil / Sao Paulo
Alves was born in Juazeiro a city in the Brazilian state of Bahia on May 5, 1983, the former Barcelona star started playing football as a kid, no thanks to his father’s passion for the game and starting a club where Alves got his play in organized football. He started at the age of 10 as a winger but his inability to score enough goals as a winger made his father re-positioned him to a more suitable right back, a position he plays up to this day.
Destiny was written on the walls of his father’s home as it was learned that Alves would go from wall to wall in the house practicing on his signature, and bracing himself up for the day’s thousands of football admirers would come looking for his autograph.
He worked as a farmer assisting his father in picking melons in the fields of Bahia. His once distant dream of signing an autograph is now a clear reality over the years. as the Brazilian right-back is now a prominent figure in football.
Cristiano Ronaldo- Portugal /Juventus
Ronaldo was born in Santo Antonio, on February 5, 1985, he was the youngest child of Maria Dolores, a local cook and his father Jose Aveiro a municipal gardener.
The name Ronaldo was chosen after former U.S president Ronald Reagan who was his father’s favorite actor. Ronaldo played with Andorinha before playing for a local club Nacional, at the age of 12 he had a three-day trial with Portuguese side Sporting CP and was signed for a fee around £1,500.
The Five-times World footballer of the year shared stories of his upbringing devoid playing toys and all, having to share a room with three of his siblings and agreeing with his mother to stop his education in order to help him focus on his football career, he was also expelled from school for throwing a chair at his teacher, who he said had ” disrespect him”
Ronaldo came into limelight in 2013 after signing for Manchester United, a place was his dream was projected to the world, and ever since then, Ronaldo has been one of the best footballers in the world.
