15. ADRIANO
Adriano who was once one of world football’s most brilliant strikers, before inconsistency and personal troubles brought his career to its knees. Before Adriano ever kicked a ball for the likes of Parma and Inter, he was a young boy stuck in poverty stricken Rio de Janeiro favela Vila Cruzeiro, but dreaming of the high life and the chance to buy his mother a mansion. Adriano indeed worked his way out of Vila Cruzeira – where drug traffickers notoriously murdered a TV Globo reporter, Tim Lopes, in 2002 – signing with Flamengo and quickly being beckoned to Italy before his 20th birthday.

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14. SAMUEL ETO
The son of an accountant, Samuel Eto’o enjoyed a greater degree of privilege than many others in his native Cameroon, yet there remains no photographic record of his childhood. Eto’o’s family was unable to pay for a camera, and as such his christening as a footballer on the streets of Douala remains a matter of the striker’s own depiction. It didn’t take long for Eto’o to catch the eye with natural talent that saw him earn
comparisons to the legendary Roger Milla. Eto’o’s father was shocked when his son came home one day to proudly announce that he had been offered in the region of $30 per day to represent a local club – the elder Eto’o hadn’t realized football could be a lucrative pursuit. Little did he know that the Sampdoria forward would one day sign a world record $26 million per year contract at Anzhi Makhachkala.

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13.DANTE
Tight spaces and unconventional surfaces are often credited for the development of future Brazilian stars, and Dante was no different from his peers. As a youth, Dante spent his time with a ball at his feet in the car park of the supermarket where his mother worked as a cashier. Despite his persistence growing up in the Federacao neighborhood of Salvador, Dante’s appeals for a chance with a Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro based club fell on deaf ears. Instead, his opportunity would arrive in the form of Matsubara – located over 1,000 miles from his home in Salvador. When Dante discovered nobody had the means to buy him a bus ticket, he took matters into his own hands – selling his video games to purchase a one-way pass to chase down his ambitions far from home.

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12. DANI ALVES
For Dani Alves, his destiny was written in the stars. Or on the walls of his father’s home. Alves’ brothers say that as a six-year-old the Barcelona star would go from wall to wall in the house signing his name, preparing for the day scores of admirers would outstretch their hands looking for his autograph. It would come, but only after hard work had been done. Alves rose from his cement bed before dawn each day at a tender age to assist his father picking melons and farming unforgiving fields in Bahia, also picking up work as a waiter or trader when possible. His father was able to start a club where Alves truly got his start in organized football, starting out as a winger before being moved to his now-customary right-back position. Once a distant dream, the confines of the Camp Nou would become a reality down the years.

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