Senegalese international footballer is grateful to God for how far he has brought him in life.
The Liverpool midfielder looking back at who he was before as a hopeless village boy to become a world football icon means God has been good to him.
Mane grew up in the small village of Bambali, deep in the south of Senegal. A village with a population of just 24,213 – about 5% that of Liverpool. While growing up, he lived with his uncle as his parents had lots of children and could not meet up financially with his basic needs.
“My parents never had money to send me to school,” he recalled. “Every morning and evening, I would always go to play football with my friend in the streets. When I was young, I only thought about the Premier League which I watched on TV. Only Premier League. It was a big dream for me.”
Mane remembers himself as a 15-year-old, digesting just how much he’s progressed from the street player with stardust in his feet, but a limited understanding of the game.
“Since I was two or three years old, I remember always being with the ball. I would see kids playing on the street, and would join them. That is how I started – just on the roads. When I got older, I would go to watch games, especially when the national team played. I wanted to see my heroes and imagine myself as them”
Sadio has revealed that he didn’t even tell his parents he was leaving Senegal prior to launching his career in France. This was because his family were earlier sceptical about his dream of making it as a professional footballer. He planned giving them a big surprise. So Mane, who was 19 at the time, decided to keep his move to Metz quiet.
His mum Satou still thought he was at the Generation Foot Academy in Dakar when he called to say he was in Europe in 2011.
“I only told my uncle. Even my mum, she didn’t know,” Mane said.
“I remember the first day I got there, to France. I was supposed to train but the coach said ‘stay at home’ and I didn’t have any credit on my phone card to call my mum. The next day I went with some of my friends who were already at Metz to buy some cards. I called her and said: Hello Mama, ‘I’m in France.”
“‘Which France?’ she said. She couldn’t believe it! I said: ‘France in Europe.’ ‘What do you mean Europe? You live in Senegal.’ I said: ‘No I’m in Europe.’ She was amazed, it was crazy! She was so surprised and she’d call me every day to ask if it was true. She still didn’t believe me until I told her to go watch me at the TV. She finally did and observed my dream had come true.”
After the initial buzz of excitement, Mane endured a tough start to life in France as a pelvic injury hampered his progress. Homesickness also took hold of him. The weather was tough, the culture was not the same,” he told Liverpoolfc.com
“I thank God for changing my life from a hopeless village boy to a world football icon. If not for God, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I am grateful. Is not by my talents but by his grace”- Mane said.
Source:celebritiesbuzz.com.gh
