trying to calm myself after that horrible lost..(DAAAAAAAAAAMMNN!!!)
forget bout last night defeated, enjoy this touching and heart soothing article..
TWO hands, clasped in prayer and holding a rosary chain dangling a large cross are etched deep into Alex Song's left arm.
Underneath are simply inscribed the initials S.B.R. and the numbers 21.02.
The tattoo is a tribute to the memory of his late father Rigobert, who died on February 21, 1991 when Song was just three years old.
But it's the only memory the Arsenal star has of his tragic dad. Song was too young to remember him and, incredibly, still does not know how he died.
Growing up without a father was tough. Living in the same cramped house in Yaounde, Cameroon's capital, with 17 sisters and 10 brothers was just as hard.
And living on your own in a hotel in a foreign country as a homesick 14-year-old while jealous football coaches starve you is exceptionally rough.
But the unsung (or unSong) hero of the Emirates has not trodden the usual path to the top. He admits he spent lonely nights crying in his room after joining the Gunners from Corsican club Bastia, but that Arsene Wenger helped him through and became the father he never had.
"When I arrived at Arsenal I didn't know anyone, could not speak a word of English and hated the food," said Song.
"My first two years here were very difficult. I would cry alone in my hotel room. When I finished training I would spend all my time on the phone with my friends in France. I ran up a huge phone bill.
"I was not very confident but Arsene helped me a lot and I want to give him my biggest thanks. He had faith in me, eased my worries and made me feel very welcome.
"The club found me a flat in Enfield - complete with French television channels - and that helped me settle!"
He was even happier when his student girlfriend Olivia flew over from France to join him. She could speak English, translated all his bills and cooked the food he loved.
They married in England and now have two young sons Nolan, 3 and Kaylian, 1.
Family is so important to Song that his sons' names and birthdates are also tattooed down each arm. His wife's name is inscribed on his right wrist while his right arm carries the names of some of his brothers and sisters but "it's not long enough to have them all."
And Song, 23, admits: "My life changed with the birth of my first son. Now I am so happy. I want to give everything for my sons because I never had a father.
"When I was at school all my friends were picked up by their dads. But I had nobody. That affected me a lot.
"I still don't know how Dad died. It was so difficult to come to terms with because I was so young. And I have never asked Mum about it, even to this day.
"All I know is that he died when I was three. Now, every time I walk off the Emirates pitch I look up to see my wife and sons it makes me so happy. My family come to every home game. They are my motivation."
As a youngster growing up in poverty-torn Africa, his only motivation was football.
His mother Catherine tried to stop him playing because she wanted him to focus on his education. But as Song confesses: "School was not my favourite subject. I only wanted to play football."
He admits he doesn't remember much about his life in Cameroon, growing up with his father's 27 offspring from different wives.
But when he was eight, his mother and an aunt took him and two of his brothers to carve out a new life in Paris.
Destiny
While his mother worked as a cleaner, they all lived in a cramped one-bed apartment in Paris before moving to a slightly bigger place in Seine-Saint Denis. It was the move that would launch his career. From his front door, the young Song could almost touch the famous Red Star stadium - home to the club founded by World Cup creator Jules Rimet and where fellow Gunners team-mate Abou Diaby started out.
"When I realised I was living opposite the stadium I thought football would be my destiny," says Song.
He asked one of the coaches if he could play "but when I told Mum I needed my papers to play for Red Star she said: 'No chance.' However, the manager persuaded her to let me play."
Now 13, Song starred in the youth team wearing a pair of cheap boots he had bought from the market near his home.
He played there for seven months until a woman agent phoned him after one tournament to offer him a place at Michael Essien's former club, Bastia in Corsica.
"Mum didn't want me to go," recalls Song. "And my first three months there were very difficult. I was living on my own in a hotel. I was just 14, homesick and thought: 'I can't stay here.'
"But the manager Francois Ciccolini took me to his house, gave me food and bought me new clothes.
"Then one day, the academy coaches had a meeting about which one of us would be good enough to play in the first team.
"Francois pointed at me and said: 'Only him.' After that the other coaches would say: 'Don't give him food.' They tried to starve me to make their players look better."
But when Ciccolini was promoted to first team manager, Song - still only 16 - made his debut.
He still remembers his first wage packet and recalls: "It was 3,000 euros. I had never seen so much money. I celebrated by going shopping. I was used to bartering for clothes in the markets - now I was going to top fashion stores."
"I spent all the money very quickly because it was my first money from football.
"But I wasn't concerned about having a good life from football, I just wanted to play."
Then, at 17, he got the phone call from a coach at Bastia that would catapult him to Arsenal and a dream meeting with his hero Thierry Henry and the rest of the Arsenal Invincibles.
"He told me Arsene Wenger wanted me to come to Arsenal," says Song. But I didn't believe him. For me, Arsenal was THE team. Everyone at Bastia wanted to play for Arsenal. Not Barcelona, nor Real Madrid, nor Manchester United.
"To play with Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg, Patrick Vieira. But when I got the call I thought it was a joke.
"It was only when we arrived at London Colney and I saw the Arsenal training ground that I believed him.
"Then I met Arsene Wenger. He told me he had seen me play for Bastia and wanted me at Arsenal.
"Then Thierry embraced me and said, in French: 'Welcome to Arsenal.'
"I couldn't believe it. I was 17. Then Dennis tried to talk to me, but I couldn't speak English.
"I was in awe of them. I went on the pre-seaon tour to Austria and I remember thinking: 'If Arsenal let me go now I will still go home happy. When I got back to the hotel on that first day I rung my friends and all they asked was: 'Get Thierry's shirt for me!' After the Austria trip I went back to Bastia and didn't hear anything for three weeks. I thought I had done something wrong.
"But then Arsene phoned me and said: 'I want you to come to Arsenal.'"
Fast forward five years and Song is now the driving force in Arsenal's midfield with three Premier League man-of-the- match bottles of bubbly sitting in his Radlett home.
Injury forced him to miss Wednesday's 2-1 defeat at Spurs which virtually ended the Gunners' title bid this season.
But Song is desperate to win silverware to repay the debt he owes Wenger.
As he prepared for today's trip to Wigan, Song added: "Arsene is the best manager in the world and I look upon him as a father, my new dad. He puts his trust in young players like no other.
He works very hard every single day to make us better and we want to win something for him.
"Of course, it is important to win trophies but, remember, we are still a very young team.
"We know our fans want a trophy and we are very close to winning something.
"My message to our fans is: 'Believe in us. This team will get better.'
"I am at the right club. Forget Barcelona, Arsenal is the best club.
"Arsenal have given me everything and I love this place. If I had to leave I would break down and cry. It's still my dream to win the league here."
And if Arsenal do eventually win the title, Song has just enough space on his left arm for a Premier League trophy tattoo...
pic of Song while "playing" for Bastia in Corsica
OoOo Song..you really inspired me..
p/s Song is my second favourite player after Marc Overmars
No comments:
Post a Comment