I used to play since I was little. Every single day I used to go out and play football with my friends. I enjoyed it a lot. I used to play even when it was raining, just by myself. Later on with time I got the best of all of my friends. No one could win with me. When I got 13 I used to train like a maniac, every single day, not caring about the weather I used to go out to the playground and either train by myself or play with others at least 3 hours daily. One rainy day, I was going to go out and play as usually. It was really wet and muddy but I didn’t care. I wanted to play anyway. At that time I didn’t know what is it going to lead to… I went out, no one wanted to come out to the playground because of the weather, so I started training by myself. Warm-up. Some high jumps, some push ups, a bit of running around the playground… After I warmed up I got the ball and started training with it. I turned around for a moment because misheard someone calling my name and then I slipped on the ball. I got my ankle broken. My parents took me to the doctor and after the operation the doctors told me I will never be able to play again. But I never believed them. That was silly… breaking an ankle, because of turning around for a second and then slipping on the ball. I never even thought that such a thing might happen to anyone and especially me. But I got unlucky and it did happen. When I couldn’t even walk yet I used to do push ups and sit ups to stay fit, watch a lot of football matches and play football games on my PlayStation. It helped me to stay happy. When I watched and played the games I felt kind of more alive. I could still do what I always loved… After a year my ankle got much better, I could walk and run again, but doctors were keep telling me not to run too much or try playing, because the ankle is still very weak and it might get broken again very easily. I didn’t believe them. One day I took my old ball and went to the playground. Started kicking it and playing with it. At the beginning it used to hurt a lot, but then it was keep getting better and better. Maybe the ankle got better or maybe I got used to the pain. It doesn’t matter. The only thing I cared for is that I was able to play football again. After time I realized that if I warm the broken ankle up more than the other one it didn’t hurt at all. I was really glad that I could finally keep on playing football with friends and my foot didn’t hurt at all. After all that time I was stuck at home, because I couldn’t go out and play I got much worse. I was still one of the best of my friends, but not as good as I used to be. It made me worried, so I started training more than ever in my whole life. Everyday after school, no matter if it was muddy or not I was playing. Weekends – the same. I was really happy when it got to the half term. I had 2 weeks off school and could play everyday since morning. That made me really happy. I loved the half terms because of that. All my other friends used to go out either shopping or town and do pointless things. I preferred to play. With time all my friends stopping coming to the playground as much as they used to. I was left all alone, but I never gave-up. I wanted to be a famous player and I knew I will never achieve that without hard work and regular trainings. Some time afterwards, when I got 16-17 there was only me left that was playing. My friends still used to come sometimes, but very rarely. Most of the times they were just watching me training, smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol. They offered cigarettes and some beer to me many times, but I always refused. When it happened again I told them I don’t want to even try cigarettes or alcohol, I just want to play football and even if I wanted to, I can’t because they’re unhealthy and I want to be a professional player. Since then they started calling me weirdo and no one wanted to play with me again. People took me for a football maniac. When I got really good I decided the time has come to join a club. Me and my dad were keep visiting the clubs and asking them if I can join, but unfortunately all of them were full. They didn’t even want to see how I play. My family was really poor and we didn’t have any money to pay for the club, that’s why they didn’t want us. The managers were either telling me that if I want to join I’ll have to pay regularly or that they don’t need any more people in their club. I got really disappointed and depressed. But I promised to myself that I’ll never give up. Even if I was never going to be a famous player I still wanted to play. That was making me happy. All the other kids in my school had girlfriends and used to go parties with them every weekend. One girl even asked me for a date once. But I refused. I never wanted to be like others, I wanted to play football for the rest of my life. My life turned really bad when I got a bit older. When I got 18 I had to start doing a job, because my dad got cancer and couldn’t work anymore. The doctors said that he might survive but nothing is sure yet. My dad was just laying in bed for hours and hours. He was really weak. Sometimes I had to help him get out of the bed because he didn’t have any strength. I had to work with my mum, help her cooking and take care after the house and my dad. I barely had any time, but I was still training everyday. Just for an hour daily, after I finished my job and two or three hours daily in the weekends. I know it is not the right time to leave my dad alone and keep playing as much as I used to. The doctors said that he might survive if they treat him with chemotherapy, but he was still just getting weaker and weaker. I knew that he was going to die soon. One day, on Saturday I went out training and there was a team playing. One of the players got injured and they needed someone else to finish the match. They saw me playing and asked me if I wanted to join. I agreed, I felt this is the time to show off my skills, maybe if the team manager gets impressed with my skills he might take me on. The match was great, I scored 3 goals in the first half and 2 in the second one. 5 altogether. After the match, the manager said he wants to have a word with me. He said I played really well and if I joined the club he could help me to get fitter, get the right technique, increase in speed and play like a professional player and after some time if I got really good he might put me in a professional, famous club. He said he was in a hurry and just gave me his phone number and left. Unfortunately I didn’t have a phone, so I couldn’t phone him back. When I came back home I told my parents about it. They were really happy for me. They were saying it will work for sure now. I knew if I joined a professional club and became famous, I would get paid bare money and wouldn’t have to work anymore. I was sure that my life is going to be perfect. The next day I went out and started to looking for some kids form my playground. I met a couple of them and asked them if I can use the phone but no one let me. I got really depressed. I thought I’ll never join the club if I can’t contact the manager, because he didn’t even tell me the name of the club, but a week later I met them again. The manager saw me coming and ran towards me like a mad man. He asked me why didn’t I phone back and if I’m still interested in joining his team. I explained him why I didn’t phone him and he smiled. I think it made him a bit happier when he found out I really cared, but just couldn’t get to him. We both agreed to meet on the playground next day and when we met he said he’s got something for me. I couldn’t believe that, he bought me a brand new phone. He said it is, so we can stay in touch. Then he took me to the team’s headquarters and we started training on the weekends as soon as I signed the contract. I told him I want to train everyday, but I need to work for my family. He said he will see what he can do, but I need to wait another month. If he sees great improvement he might take me to a professional team. I told my parents about it and they were even happier. They said I have been working so hard and it must be a sign from God, to never give up. A month has passed and the manager told me that he saw the right improvement and effort he expected me to make. He took me to a famous club called “Liverpool”. Finally I could train everyday and I was getting paid for it. In fact I was getting paid much more than when I was working with my mum. We were playing a lot of matches, for some of them we had to go to another town, for the others even to another country. I used to come home once a couple of months, but I was still sending them money, writing letters and phoning from time to time. Then I got a really depressing message from my mum. My dad has died from the cancer. The funeral was going to be soon and they wanted me to come for a couple of days, maybe for a week. It was really bothering me, because I had to play a couple of really important matches. It was a chance to make a career for me and the matches were really important for the team. They knew they might struggle to win without me. I spoke to my manager about it, he told me he will let me know in a couple of days. I phoned my mum back and told her what he said. We both thought that he just said that he will think about it and then won’t agree anyway, because he didn’t seem very happy when I told him I need a week-off. But two days later I got really surprised. He told me the games are really important for the team, they might not win without me and it is big chance to show my skills off and get famous, so… he rearranged all the matches and I’m free to go home for a week right now. I was so happy that I hugged him. He smiled. I never thought that managers can be such friendly people. 8 days later I was playing with my team again. I was a bit depressed after my dad’s death but I played in an international game and scored 6 goals. After hat all the clubs wanted to buy me, some of them were even better than the one I was currently in, but the manager told them he would never swap me for money and I said I will never change team.