Manchester City forward, Kelechi Iheanacho, has opened up on his tough upbringing and how he used to beg to watch English Premier League matches at viewing centres in Nigeria.
Iheanacho burst onto the scene, as the star of the Nigerian squad that won the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup. But he has spoken about the hardship he faced growing up and how his family could not afford a television set.
“We didn’t have the money,” he told the Daily Mail.
“Maybe after the game I’d hear the scores and all that. I’d be at home playing football and my friends would come back after being there to tell me. We didn’t have a television at home.
“Sometimes I watched the Spanish league – it was a bit cheaper, maybe N30. But the Premier League was N50. Sometimes I’d watch the Premier League if I found the money, or I’d go there and beg them to let me in. Or sneak in for the second half and pay half the money.”
The 19-year-old also revealed how difficult things became after he lost his mother.
He said: “It was hard for us when my mother left us. We couldn’t do anything so I said to myself ‘move on and keep working hard.’
“She makes me work harder. When I’m not doing something right, or when I’m not playing or working hard enough, then I remember her. She pushed me to work hard.
“There are jobs (back home) but football has always been with me. When I was growing up they didn’t want me to do it because my mother was a teacher- they wanted me to go to school. But I love football and wanted to play – they wanted to stop me but couldn’t.
“They wouldn’t allow me to play outside after school but I went out anyway. Maybe I lost a bit of focus on my studies.
“It’s amazing when you go back home now, when you remember how you were before. You go back home and all those people are calling your name, shouting. I get mobbed by the kids. They want to see you, want to know you.”
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