Sorry! We’ve been a bit sloppy with our posts over the past week. Life has a funny way of swamping you with a bunch of busy sometimes. The one thing we did not miss, however, was this absolute beaut by Dimitri Payet:
Stunning, innit? But what’s even more shocking is the fact that Payet, given his tremendous natural footballing talent, nearly gave up the sport 13 years ago. If it weren’t for his father and uncle, Payet might have gone off the football map after being released from the Le Havre academy in France as a 16-year-old; the very same academy that has produced Riyad Mahrez and Paul Pogba.
Speaking about those dark days after being released, Payet says:
“I thought the dream was over. I didn’t even want to hear talk about me ever going back to France. I was quite traumatised by the experience and the decision not to keep me.”
As luck would have it, Payet got another break at 18 with Nantes and he hasn’t looked back since then. Today, he is a key player at West Ham where he has set the Premier League alight with his skills. He speaks very fondly of his time at West Ham so far:
“Whether we’re playing home or away, I can really feel the love from the supporters. I didn’t expect things to go this well so I try to savour every day and enjoy it because I know how hard it was to get to this point.”
That last statement is telling, really. There’s no taking things for granted.
Payet’s story is one of success, but who knows how many hundreds of gifted footballers the world has lost probably because they didn’t have the support and/or the tenacity to see their dreams through.
Excellence, at any level in any field of activity, demands persistence and an iron will to not quit. Much has been written about never giving up and learning & improving with every mistake already, so we’ll leave you here with this very inspiring thought.
Source: Avinash Rao Facebook
Have a wonderful week ahead!
While we’re at it, how about a look at Dimitri Payet’s incredible season so far?
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