Soccer stars who came from humble beginnings

Soccer has a reputation for being an everyman's game: if you have the talent and determination to make it, you can, no matter your social background. But while many successful soccer players had very comfortable childhoods, others weren't so lucky. Check out this gallery to find out which soccer stars had it rough when they were kids.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Often thought of as one of history’s greatest soccer players, the reality of the Portuguese star’s childhood was far from the glamour of his lifestyle today.

Luis Suárez

The Uruguayan great grew up as one of seven children to parents who could scarcely afford to buy him boots. His father left when he was young, forcing him to take up work sweeping the streets.

His background doesn’t seem to have affected him negatively though, save for a turbulent period as a teenager when he fell in with the wrong crowd.

Franck Ribéry

The French winger was raised in a low-income neighborhood in northern France.

When he was just two years old, he was involved in a car accident and needed more than 100 stitches in his face that left him with severe scarring.

Carlos Tévez

The Argentinian player grew up in the impoverished and violent neighborhood of Fuerte Apache in Buenos Aires.

Zlatan Ibrahimović

The now infamous Swedish striker was born to working class immigrant parents in the city of Malmo. His parents had divorced before he was two, and he spent much time moving between their apartments with his siblings.

Neymar

The Brazilian superstar was born to working class parents in suburban São Paulo. His father had to work three jobs just to make ends meet, and the family went without electricity.

Ángel Di María

The Argentinian grew up in Rosario, where he had to help his father in the coalyard in order to provide for the family.

Luka Modrić

The Croatian grew up playing soccer as a way to distract himself from the violent conflict of the Croatian War of Independence.

Alexis Sánchez

The striker was born in Tocopilla, Chile, and for a time was raised by just his mother, since his father was out of the picture.

Yaya Touré

The Ivorian midfielder grew up playing soccer on the streets, but did not have a pair of boots until he was 10—he had several siblings, and money was tight.

Alexander Hleb

The Belarusian midfielder is no stranger to hardship: he grew up in the wake of Chernobyl, and his father volunteered demolishing houses rendered uninhabitable by the disaster.

Yuri Zhirkov

The Russian international was born into a family in Tambov, central Russia, that didn’t have much money and struggled to buy basic items such as food and clothing.

Steven Pienaar

The South African soccer player grew up in the Johannesburg suburb of Westbury during Apartheid, when the violence was so bad that his mother didn’t allow him to sit and watch TV for fear of a bullet flying through the window and hitting him.