Stars rising from "social bottom"

Many world-class stars do not have a smooth career path. They had to take a detour to achieve success, to be recognized and have a place in both the club and the national team colors that they devoted and served...

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People who are physically unfit

Few people know that the only French player to have won 3 Golden Balls, Michel Platini, was refused admission to the training course by Metz in 1972 because the club's doctor thought he had heart failure. Without needing a thorough examination, just looking at the results of an electrocardiogram, the leader of the betel-shirted football team missed one of the greatest talents in French football history. Platini was then recruited by Nancy. And, the rest is history.

Griezmann is another famous case. He was forced to leave France at the age of 13 to go to Spain after 6 clubs in the hexagonal land refused because they thought he was too small, slim and weak to play top football. Those 6 teams include Lyon, Auxerre, Sochaux, Metz, Saint-Etienne and Montpellier.

Griezmann was rejected because he was too small

In this respect, it is impossible not to mention Messi. At age 11, Leo was diagnosed with GHD, a rare form of growth hormone deficiency. It affects the pituitary gland in the brain - responsible for synthesizing growth hormone, helping children develop, determining bone density, muscle softness and the development of body fat.

This disease will make Messi short, his height will hardly exceed 1m40 and his physical condition will of course be affected. Therefore, even though Messi is more talented than others, teams in his home country of Argentina such as River Plate or Newell's Old Boys cannot afford to pay for treatment of this rare disease.

Messi lacks growth hormone, making it difficult to grow taller

Then Messi went to Spain, joining Barca, the team committed to paying 800 euros for this excellent left-hander's monthly treatment fee for 2 years. And the rest is of course history.

Before becoming famous, Mathieu Valbuena was rejected by many teams because he was too immature, Riyad Mahrez was not accepted by Marseille and PSG because he was too short, Jordi Alba was considered too short by La Masia, David Silva was shaken by Real Madrid because His physique is too small, Harry Kane was turned away by Arsenal because he did not have enough physical strength, Marcus Rashford Man City criticized him for being too short...

People who used to play amateur football

Jonathan Clauss' story is the most unique and outstanding. After 10 years studying at the Strasbourg youth academy, the French international and Marseille star was eliminated by the Alsace team at the age of 18 because he was not qualified to play professional football. Clauss then had to wander around sixth place in Germany and fifth place in France before being recognized as a talent at Lens in the summer of 2020 and being called up to the French national team at the age of 29!

Patrice Evra also failed at the PSG and Rennes training facilities and had to go to SC Marsala to play in the Italian fourth division. It took 4 years of diving into amateur tournaments in Italy and France for Evra to become a mainstay of Monaco at the age of 21 and was called up to the French national team at the age of 23.

It took Patrice Evra 4 years to play football in amateur tournaments

Eto'o is another typical case. Black Panther went to France to try his luck at the age of 15. But without identification documents, the young Cameroonian talent was rejected everywhere he went. Returning to Douala, Eto'o studied at Kadji Sports Academy - then collaborating with Le Havre, and played amateur football until moving to Real Madrid in 1996.

In addition, Miroslav Klose, Didier Drogba, Adil Rami, Jamie Vardy, Dimitri Lienard, Hakim Ziyech, Ivan Perisic... also played amateur football before being recognized and wearing the national team shirt.

People who have discipline problems

Having his contract cut by Lille in 1999 due to attitude problems, "Scar Face Guy" Ribery wandered aimlessly before becoming one of the outstanding players of his generation. “Maybe we didn't learn enough about Franck. He has things that other people don't have. Franck was born a warrior, with a smile on his face, an extraordinary mind and outstanding talent.

In eliminating him, we cannot count on Franck's success based on his actions. After 250 warnings and 300 reprimands, we no longer had to wake up every morning to tell Franck 'Get out!' At that time, Franck could fight with a little girl and break her arm," Jean-Michel Vandamme, former director of Lille's youth training facility, once revealed the reason Ribery was kicked out of Lille in 1999.

While playing for Lille, Ribery received 550 warnings and reprimands

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also often received a lot of criticism in his final stages with Arsenal. He missed practice, was late and was punished. At Dortmund, Aubameyang also made the same mistake. Even Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes warned teams to be careful before buying players like Aubameyang because his indiscipline will greatly affect the team.

However, now, the 34-year-old Gabonese veteran is shining brightly in the Marseille shirt and is admired by his young teammates thanks to his professionalism, diligence and dedication.