Some of the world’s best football players were interviewed about how they first come to know about the sport. The above picture is that of a young Ronaldinho learning his trade. He does look like he could use nose surgery though.
HOW I LEARNED TO PLAY…
RONALDINHO
“I spent a lot of time training at Gremio. After training I went to play futsal. After that I’d play with my friends in the streets and when I got home I played with my brother. My life is football and always has been.”
ZINEDINE ZIDANE
“Everything I have achieved in football is due to playing in the streets with my friends.”
DIEGO MARADONA
“I guess we were potrero (waste ground) children more than anything. If our parents were looking for us, they knew where to find us. We would always be there on the potrero, running after the ball.”
RONALDO
“Every time I went away, I was deceiving my mum. I’d tell her I was going to school, but I’d be out on the street playing football. I always had a ball at my feet. In Brazil, every kid starts playing street football very early. It’s in our blood.”
STANLEY MATTHEWS
“I’d make for a piece of waste ground opposite our house, where the boys from the neighbourhood gathered for a kick-about. Coats would be piled for posts and the game would get under way.
“In fine weather it would be as many as 20 a side, in bad weather a hardened dozen or so made six a side.
“We didn’t need a referee. We accepted the rules of the game and stuck by them. It taught us that you can’t go about doing what you want and if you don’t stick to the rules, you spoil it for everyone else. Those games prepared us for life.
“When I wasn’t playing football with my pals, I’d play by myself. I had a rubber ball I spent hours kicking against the backyard wall.”
FERENC PUSKAS
“I am grateful to my father for all the coaching he did not give me.”
CRISTIANO RONALDO
“It’s all down to street football.”
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