FC Barcelona and Cameroon legend Samuel Eto'o has opened up about the struggles he faced before earning a dream move to Real Madrid, which included playing football behind his parents back.
Eto'o is widely considered as one of the greatest African footballers of all-time after an illustrious career that spanned over nearly two decades.
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After hanging up his boots in 2019, the four-time CAF African Footballer of the Year signed off with 18 major titles his name, which includes consecutive trebles with FC Barcelona and Internazionale respectively, between 2008 and 2010.
Having also won the Africa Cup of Nations twice and an Olympic gold medal, the Indomitable Lions record scorer spoke to FIFA.com about his childhood memories before his switch from the Kadji Sports Academy in Douala, to Madrid in 1996.
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"During the pandemic, I have been thinking about the wonderful memories football brought me during my childhood," Eto'o said.
"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."
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He added: "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."