In an official interview released by Liverpool FC football club, Sadio Mané detailed the remarkable lengths the Senegalese forward went to in order to pursue a career in football.
Speaking with VUJ Mané explained that at 15 years of age he left his hometown of Sedhiou to make it as a footballer in the Senegalese capital of Dakar.
I packed my luggage one day. I spoke to someone who was like my dad, but he's not my real dad. It's someone who tried to help me all the time. I told him, 'I want to leave this city to go to Dakar, can you help get me maybe. To give me money to go?'
Mane grew up in a house of 10 people, including his uncle and cousins, yet he didn't tell any of them his plans to run away from home.
Nobody knew, I didn't even tell me mum or uncle. [My friend] gave me the money and I just packed all my luggage and went. I went to Dakar and for one week, no one knew where I was.
My mum called everybody, everyone was panicking, so my friend said 'he left to go to Dakar'. They sent someone to catch me and to bring me back to Casamance.
Mané went on to explain how his ill-fated escapade convinced his family to help him achieve his dream:
No one never believed I would be a football player in my family. After I finished at school, they said 'okay, you want to be [a footballer], so we'll try.'
Mané also revealed that his favourite player is the much-maligned El-Hadji Diouf, followed by Ronaldinho. The Liverpool forward seems like a genuinely nice person and the interview is well worth a watch for any Reds fans that are upset about Philipe Coutinho's inevitable departure.
