Manchester City star Ederson admits to having been inspired by Rogerio Ceni, the former Sao Paulo keeper who recorded a record-setting 131 goals in his remarkable club career.
“Rogerio Ceni has always been my inspiration,” the Blues star revealed to his club’s official website.
“When I started to play in school, I didn’t have an idol as such, I didn’t really like football in my nursery days.
“I used to go three times a week due to my brother’s influence and also because our friends used to go as well.
“So, I began to attend and started playing and after that I moved to the goal and from the moment that I started playing as a goalkeeper, I started following Rogerio Ceni.
“From that moment onwards, he became my inspiration and idol.”
Ederson has had to work hard to forge his own career as a world-class keeper, with many sacrifices made long the way.
He added on his route to the top: “It was a huge sacrifice; I remember training in Sao Paulo in the mornings. My father used to wake up at 5am to go to work and we’d leave the house at the same time, so I could go to the training sessions.
“I needed to get two buses, followed by the club’s bus and the same thing on the way back.
“Sometimes I wouldn’t even have time for lunch because I needed to go straight to school. This is what my routine looked like: training-school or school-training.
“I’d come back from school just to have dinner and go to sleep because the next day I had to do it all over again.”