Former Real Madrid and Barcelona forward Samuel Eto'o says he secretly played football as a youngster as he struggled to make his parents accept his dream of becoming a professional.
Growing up in Douala in his native Cameroon, Eto'o was barred from playing football by his parents but he was not to be discouraged from pursuing the game.
It is a familiar tale narrated by many African footballers, but the Cameroonian says he insisted on football as he nicodemously went to play, before an opportunity to join Real Madrid came in 1996, after passing through Kadji Sports Academy in Douala.
"During the pandemic, I have been thinking about the wonderful memories football brought me during my childhood," said Eto'o as per Fifa.com.
"I lived and breathed football – but my parents were very hard on me. They did not accept the fact that I played football because to them football was something children played if they didn’t go to school.
"I was obviously going to school and I was not a bad student, but I had a passion, which was football,
"I vividly remember one day I played a game in my city and I had to hide in order to go play. What I didn’t know is that my dad was with some friends in the bar in front of the field.
"Everything I did that day in that game gave me my 'pass' to play football freely. Because my parents did not know [until that moment] that I seemed to have a natural talent for the game.
"I was the hero of my neighbourhood after that game. That day, when I returned home, my father arrived a little later and said: 'You are so good, I saw your match today. I'm going to talk to your mother so you can keep playing.'
"That is how he gave me a 'pass' to keep playing. I was about 12 or 13 years old.
"From that moment on there was no looking back. I had the blessing of my father and you could not keep me off that football pitch. Day or night. From there, it was one or two years before I went to Europe, and my life changed forever."
Although his time at Real Madrid was not successful, a loan stint at Real Mallorca led to a permanent move, before Barcelona snapped him up.
From Barca the four-time African Footballer of the Year played for a number of clubs including Inter Milan and Chelsea before he retired in 2019 while playing in Qatar.
He will particularly be remembered for winning the treble in successive campaigns, in his final season at Barca and his first at Inter.