|My lucky break|
|Around the Academy:
When I was 17 I was given the opportunity to go to Germany, but I didn't intend to go there and become a professional footballer.
My brother had a friend who played for a German Fourth Division team called Borussia Neunkirchen. I decided to go and stay with him.
One day I asked if I could go to training with him and he said yes. When we got there and I saw the standard of the players, I knew I could perform at that level.
The manager let me train with them, and after the second day's training he offered me a two-week trial. Then the club registered me, and my football career began.
It was all quite amazing - at 17 you live with your parents! It never occurred to me that I was old enough be on my own and start my own career.
I found it difficult to deal with at first. I wasn't used to being on my own and I got quite homesick.
But I realised I had a big opportunity in front of me and knew that I didn't want to let it go. I knew I had to be patient and grab the chance I'd been given.
Within a year of moving to Germany I was playing for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga (Germany's equivalent of the Premiership).
It was an amazing experience. I was playing alongside players I used to watch and admire.
But I didn't find it intimidating. I think one of my strongest assets was that I was never afraid to play against people who were older than me.
No matter what level I was playing at, I was never scared. When I got my opportunity I never looked back - I wasn't afraid of anybody.