When it comes to uneducated players, we all almost go back to Jose Mourinho insulting Cristiano Ronaldo’s family and ridiculing his lack of education: “not showing maturity and respect” and attributed that to a “difficult childhood” with “no education”.
When you say football, Brazil come in everyone’s mind and Pele is the one who brought the South Americans on the world platform. Not only did he win three World Cup titles, but he helped revolutionize the beautiful game. Did he need school to make it on the football pitch? No Way.
His role as an Ambassador for the game is well-documented, as he continues to help expand the game and goodwill across all sports.
5. Ronaldinho
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, commonly known as Ronaldinho, chose football over school. His football skills began to blossom at the age of eight, and he was first given the nickname “Ronaldinho” because he was often the youngest and the smallest player in youth club matches.
He developed an interest in futsal and beach football, which later expanded to organized football. His first brush with the media came at the age of 13 when he scored all 23 goals in a 23–0 victory against a local team.
4. Didier Drogba
Drogba was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and at the age of five was sent to France by his parents to live with his uncle, Michel Goba, a professional footballer. However, Drogba soon became homesick and returned to Abidjan after three years.
Both of his parents lost their jobs and he again returned to live with his uncle. Never had time for college, and joined a semi-professional club Levallois instead.
3. Cristiano Ronaldo
For Ronaldo, Football was the school, and big games, exams. As a child, Ronaldo played for amateur team Andorinha from 1992 to 1995, where his father was the kit man, and later spent two years with Nacional. In 1997, aged 12, he went on a three-day trial with Sporting CP, who signed him for a fee of £1,500.
He tried being a student though but was expelled after throwing a chair at his teacher, who he said had “disrespected” him.
‘I was not thick but I was not interested in school,’ he admits. ‘I was expelled after I threw a chair at the teacher. ‘He disrespected me.’
2. Lionel Messi
Messi joined the Rosario club when he was six years old. During the six years he played for Newell’s, he scored almost 500 goals as a member of “The Machine of ’87”, the near-unbeatable youth side named for the year of their birth.
After a year at Barcelona’s youth academy, La Masia, Messi was finally enrolled in the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in February 2002. After completing his growth hormone treatment aged 14, Messi became an integral part of the “Baby Dream Team”, Barcelona’s greatest-ever youth side.
1. Neymar
Growing up, Neymar combined his love of futsal with street football. In 2003, Neymar moved with his family to São Vicente, where he began playing for youth side Portuguesa Santista. Then, later in 2003, they moved to Santos, where Neymar joined Santos FC.
With the success of his youth career and added income, the family bought their first property, a house next to the Vila Belmiro. Their quality of family life improved, as at age 15, Neymar was earning 10,000 reais per month and at 16, 125,000 reais per month.
At 17, he signed his first full professional contract, was upgraded to the Santos first team, and began signing his first sponsorship deals. The rest is history.
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