From a difficult childhood to the summit of world football FIFA World Cup 2018 Players who overcame personal drama to be in Russia

Any kid who kicks a ball dreams about being present at a World Cup one day and there are players in Russia who have tread a difficult path to get to Russia.

Murders, poverty, deportation, nights on the street, are just some examples of what some of this World Cup's main men have witnessed in their youth.

Jakub Blaszczykowski (Poland)

The drama of witnessing his father stab his mother

He was 10 years old and after seeing his father stabbing his mother he lost hope, even faith in life and also in soccer. His father was sentenced in 15 years of jail and his grandmother took care of both him and his older brother Dawid.

It was when he was 10 years old that another key figure appeared in his life; his uncle Jerzy Brzeczek, who was captain of the Polish national team and the one who encouraged him to continue playing football. Blaszczykowski returned to training and a therapist, seeking for a way to erase the impossible to forget. Years later he ended up in Russia defending Poland's colours in the 2018 World Cup.

Firmino (Brazil)

Deported in an immigration control

Firmino is in the World Cup almost by miracle, because of the opposition of his family. "When I was a kid, my parents didn't want me to play football, they wanted me to study, sometimes they even locked me in the house, even though I used to jump a wall in the back," recalls the Brazilian. In addition, he had another task: to help his family sell coconut water in Maceio, where he lived.

But Marcellus Portella, a dentist, discovered him almost by chance when he was playing a game with Regatas Brazil as a teenager. He decided to become his agent and, later, in 2009, the player was invited to train at Olympique de Marseille. On the way to France, however, he had to stop in Madrid, where he didn't pass the immigration controls and they didn't let him continue the trip. He was 17 years old and had to return to his country. Now he is 26 and he will play in the World Cup for Brazil.

Gabriel Jesus (Brazil)

The boy who painted the streets in the World Cup in Brazil

Only four years have passed, but the life of Gabriel Jesus has changed radically. In 2014, at the World Cup in Brazil, the Manchester City star hadn't made his debut in the first division yet and was dedicated to painting the streets of Sao Paulo. He was barefoot, as you can see in the image. He was 17 years old, his father had abandoned him and he had been raised by his mother Vera Lucia in Tremembe. Now he wears boots that are worth hundreds of euros and he is one of the stars of the Selecao in the World Cup in Russia.

Beiranvand (Iran)

Nomad, pizza maker, car washer ... and many nights sleeping outdoors

Alireza Beiranvand is the goalkeeper of Iran and he has reached the World Cup after a struggle for survival. Born into a family of nomads, of those who still make pilgrimages with livestock, he served as a shepherd, while dreaming of football.

"For me, the biggest challenge is all the sacrifices I've had to face throughout my sports career, I did not have a place to sleep for years, I was far from my family and that was the biggest obstacle," he explained to EFE.

His father wouldn't let him play football and he decided to go to the capital, where he slept many nights in the street and worked as a pizza man, car washer and cleaner to eat. Today, at the age of 25, he is set to face Spain in the World Cup.

Dele Alli (England)

A childhood marked by problems with and alcoholic mother

Dele Alli is actually called Bamidele Jermaine Alli and had a complicated childhood. At the age of 13, he went to live with a host family to escape from the streets. His reality ran through the path of alcohol problems of his mother Denise, unable to take care for him, and his bad company in the street where he lived with drugs and weapons.

His father, Kehinde and millionaire prince of a Nigerian tribe, had left a week after he was born. Dele Alli doesn't like to talk about that time and he has found in refuge in football. Today he is one of the stars of England in the World Cup in Russia.

Juan Guillermo Cuadrado (Colombia)

A hidden child, a murdered father

It was 1992, in Necocli, region of Antioquia, Colombia. Juan Cuadrado was four years old when he left the shelter he was hiding and he saw an image that left a mark on him for life. His father was on the ground, mortally wounded, as an armed group had arrived in their town and started firing. There was no turning back.

His mother Marcela started working a banana plantation, first and in an ice cream parlour, later. Cuadrado stayed a while with his grandmother and never stopped kicking the ball.

Victor Moses (Nigeria)

Orphaned because of the war

His father was named Austin and was a Christian pastor in Kaduna, Nigeria and his mother, Josephine, helped him with his job. The two were victims of the war in 2002, killed at their own home. Moses was 11 years old and he was playing soccer on the street when they told him the tragic news. He escaped and asked for asylum in England. "Definitely, wherever they are at this moment, my parents should be proud of me," he said in an interview for The Guardian.

"We played without boots, barefoot, with a small ball," he recalls of his childhood games in Nigeria - a country with which he will now play his second World Cup.

Luka Modric (Croatia)

Escaping the bombs that killed his grandfather

The war in Croatia began in 1991 and ended in 1995, while Modric was five years old. His childhood was marked by the war, as he had to flee his city. Stipe, his father, was a soldier of the Croatian army and his grandfather lost his life, killed by the Serbs near his house.

His mother escaped with little Luka to Zadar, away from the shooting, bombs and death. He lived in the Hotel Kolovare with other refugees, where little Luka started playing football.

He prefers to forget that time, but it was a time that marked him. "The war made me stronger, it was a very hard time for me and my family, I don't want to drag that with me forever, but I don't want to forget about it either," recalled Modric, Croatia's leader.

Jamie Vardy (England)

The fights and the tracking bracelet

He was rejected by Sheffield Wednesday when he was 16 years old, for being too small. It was then when the problems began including bad life and fights.

He continued playing in the English lower divisions and at the same time he worked in a factory, to earn a living. One of the night he went out and he ended up to the police station, where he was charged and released with a tracking bracelet on his ankle. His move to Leicester led to his explosion, with plenty of goals, fame and money. Nowadays, he trains with England in Russia.

Carlos Bacca (Colombia)

Carlos Bacca narrates his owns story. "When I was 20 years old I was in my town, Puerto Colombia, as a bus assistant and life was not easy, but later I became a bus driver, because I come from a very humble family and had to earn money to help. The doors of football had closed for me a long time ago, and at that age, I didn't count on that, but that year I had some tests at the Junior in Barranquilla and thank God I passed them, "recalled the striker in an interview with MARCA.

Now he plays in his second World Cup, but before that, he also worked as a fisherman. "I've had difficult times since I was a kid and when you start earning money you think you have it all, I was very wrong, I made mistakes, but thank God I learned," he said.

Casemiro (Brasil)

The man who cries when he remembers his childhood

He cannot stop crying when he remembers his childhood. The midfielder recalls how his mother had to trick him into buying a drink he liked. She didn't want him to realise the poverty in which they lived. In the family there was no money for those luxuries.

"I spent a lot of my childhood in poverty. My mother distracted me and told me that I had to go home, because I didn't have money to buy something," he told the Real Madrid Television. The Brazilian is now a Brazil's key player in the midfield, in the World Cup in Russia.

Carl Ikeme (Nigeria)

One year fighting against leukaemia

Carl Ikeme was diagnosed with the disease in the summer of 2017, during the medical tests he underwent with Wolverhampton, before the start of the pre-season. It was then when he began chemotherapy, a battle for his life.

The World Cup in Russia was over for him. But there was still an option to 'be' there: an honorable citation. "He will be our 24th player. Until the last moment there is the option of bringing the 24th players," said Gernot Rohr, the Nigeria coach.

"To say I'm devastated about missing the World Cup is an understatement. But I just want to thank everyone in Nigeria for their prayers, love and messages. I can't explain how much they mean to me. I also want to wish my teammates and coaches," he wrote on social media, days before World Cup's first kick-off.