From Poverty to Power, Footballers who grew up poor - South American edition

Football is the most democratic sport, everyone can play football. Life is sometimes unfair, someone is born in a rich family, and someone in a poor one. But thanks to football, people are changing their lives and fighting poverty. We have collected for you the South American footballers who were born into poor families.

#1. Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi was born in Rosario in 1987. Messi was born in a period of severe economic crisis and explosive inflation in Argentina.

His talent came out in 1995 when the unemployment rate in Rosario was 20%. The chances of success are very limited, the ambitions must be put on hold.

However, Messi went against the crowd, even though his father was just a steel mill worker and his mother was a part-time cleaner. At age 11, he was diagnosed with growth hormone gland disease and required at least £ 600 per month for treatment.

Of course, his family could not afford it. After that, a series of clubs in Argentina rejected Messi, only Barca was outstretched to help. At the end of 2000, he officially joined Barca club. Nearly 20 years on, Messi has become one of the richest athletes in the world.

Even though the legend has now left his beloved Barca, we all know that the world ahead of him is still very broad and bright.

#2. Neymar

Before becoming a world soccer superstar, Neymar's childhood was often associated with ports and parking lots to take on the job of carrying with his father. His first shoes were picked up from a landfill.

The difficulty is so, but the intense passion for the ball has inspired him to constantly try. And now he is the mainstay of the Brazilian team and has the most expensive transfer value in the world - 222 million euros.

#3. Alexis Sanchez

Enjoy a life of richness and glory, but perhaps, Sanchez still does not forget childhood opportunities. When he was 6 years old, he had to wash cars and circus to earn every penny.

The star comes from a poor family in the Etopia mines. Alexis's father was a miner and left his family when he was a child. The Chilean striker lives with his mother and stepfather in a small house. With his natural talent and hard work, Alexis Sanchez is currently one of the richest players in Chile.

#4.Robinho

Robinho was born in a poor area of the city of San Vicente. Many young people love from there connect their lives with crime and drugs, and only thanks to football, Robinho took a different path. The Robinho family lived very poorly, and the footballer had nutritional problems. Due to the fact that Robinho rarely ate, he had problems with physics. At one of the tournaments, Robinho showed himself very well and Pele noticed him. After that, her career began to develop. Robinho was called the second Pele, but he failed to realize his potential. Robinho was very talented, but he was lazy.

#5.Angel Di Maria

Angel Di Maria was born in the big Argentine city of Rosario, but the family had big money problems. Parents worked in a coal mine and earned very little. Like Robinho, Di Maria ate poorly, so he was very thin.

Angel began his football career in Rosario Central, and at the age of 19, Di Maria moved to Europe. After the footballer received his first salary, he bought a new house for his parents, and they quit hard work.

#6.Luis Suarez

Luis Suarez was born into a large family that also had money problems. When Louis was 12 years old, his father left the family, leaving his mother with 7 children. Suarez’s mom worked as a cleaner and earned very little. There was very little money, so Suarez often played barefoot, he did not have boots.

But Suarez did not give up, constantly progressed and became a professional footballer. Luis is now the top scorer in Uruguay history and has won the Golden Boot 2 times.

#7.Carlos Tevez

Tevez probably had the most difficult childhood.  He was born in a very dangerous area of Buenos Aires.  When Carlos was 6 months old, his mother left the family, and at the age of 6, his father was killed.  Carlos, his brother and sister were left without parents, and their aunt adopted them.  Aunt also lived very poorly, but did not abandon her nephews. Tevez could have become a gangster, but he chose the right path and became a football player.

#8.Ronaldo

Ronaldo was so talented that at an early age he was noticed by the Flamengo scouts and invited to watch. The club’s academy was located on the other side of the city, and the family could not pay for the fare. That was how poor the Ronaldo family was. The phenomenon could not get on screening, so he was forced to go to the nearest football school, which was not famous. Ronaldo went to training on foot, because there was only enough money for food. At the age of 17, Cruzeiro signed the football player, and after that he became a legend of world football.

#9. 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.

#10.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.

#11.Ronaldinho

How this cute little nipper ended up as the buck-toothed genius we all knew and loved is one of the great fairytales of modern football.

Born into challenging circumstances in Porto Alegre, the Moreira family were plunged into catastrophe when Ronaldinho’s father suddenly died after suffering a fatal heart attack in a swimming pool.

It was Ronnie’s football skills that turned things around as first club Gremio moved the clan into a upmarket suburb as a way of convincing him and his brother to stay with the club.

#12. Juan Roman Riquelme

Riquelme was as polished a midfielder as they come.

But he grew up in proper shitsville.

A shanty town in the Buenos Aires suburb of San Fernando, where violence and nefariousness were very much the local past-times.

Money was so scarce his old man turned to violent gang leader activities, which including forcing Riquelme Jr to play in matches arranged for illegal gambling rings.

#13. Rivaldo

According to Diego Maradona, Rivaldo has ‘bronca’, which translates loosely to an innate feeling of resentment and injustice.

And he had every right to.

Born into favela life in Recife, the Brazil legend was so poor that he lost teeth and became bow-legged because his parents couldn’t afford to feed him.

His Dad died tragically in a car crash when the boy was just fifteen.

And still he grew up to become a Champions League and World Cup winner. Respect.

#14. Firmino

Firmino was raised in a very poor family, like many Brazilian soccer players. His mother and father were only rich enough to afford the family little food. However, with the support of their neighbors saying, "Let him go, he's born with a talent, His success is a chance for us to avoid poverty and suffering" they allowed their son to play soccer on the street.

After a string of spectacular displays from his Brazilian team, Germany scout identified Roberto Firmino. This made his family really proud. While he moved from his home to Germany thousands of miles, the 16-year-old was always glad. At the point when the news came, he said, "My family never needs to work anymore." his family had to accompany him to Germany.

He managed to spend four and a half campaigns in Hoffenheim after starting a football career with Figueirense in 2009. 

He won the Breakthrough Player prize in the league for his 16 goals in 33 matches in 2013–14 season. He signed for the Reds in July 2015. He gained warm applause at Liverpool for his cleverness, scoring skills, and technical ability, to the extent that Jurgen Klopp refers to Firmino as the "engine" that facilitates the counter-attacking framework of the team.