Nigerian striker and English Premier League rave of the moment, Odion Ighalo, is unstoppable! He is scoring consistently at Watford and against the topmost club sides. Ighalo already has a record 14 goals in 19 games this season and is clearly the danger man for the Club. However, he is no stranger to top football in Europe, as he has travelled widely in a career that started in the very humble background of Ajegunle in Nigeria. Before moving to Lyn Oslo of Norway, he played in Nigeria for Prime Fc and Julius Berger. He then moved to Italy with Udinese and Granada on loan spells before his Watford Career. In this exclusive Interview with TheCable, Ighalo opens up on his amazing rise and how his mum sold sachet water so he could play football.
He said,
I was born in Ajegunle. Football there was not easy because you had to buy everything you needed to train with, buy water to drink, pay for transport and all that. So, that’s why anytime I’m granting an interview, I always say after God, it’s my mum, because it’s my mom who really stood by me. I was really happy because many people could not have the opportunity to be where I am today or to make it in life because they didn’t have someone to really stand by them. You know that some parents don’t have the money to eat not to talk of paying for shoes or transport to go for games and all that. So, my mum, with her small shop where she sold sachet water and soft drinks, she’ll save some money to buy shoes for me, give me transport money to go play with my team or play friendly games. She’ll even give me money to buy water after training to drink, try to pay some little little things for me. It was great for me because I didn’t have any helper then. I thank God today that everything that I suffered for then, I am enjoying it now.
For more on his grass to grace story, and the challenges he has had to overcome click HERE