Inspiring Story Of Odion Ighalo Who Dodged Bullets On His Way Up

Watford's Odion Ighalo avoided slugs and ate snow on his approach to living Premier League dream Nigeria global survived group wars in Lagos

 ghettos and shuddered through a spell in Norway as a young person before helping the Hornets win advancement Ghetto-blaster Odion Ighalo used to prepare with projectiles flying over his head as police pursued groups over the pitch. He used to kick tin jars in his exposed feet around the mean roads of Aje

gunle, a sprawling region of Lagos where his mom worked 17 hours a day offering filtered water and soda pops to pay for Ighalo's first match of football boots. Also, when he trod that well-worn way from tropical Nigeria to frosty Norway, the first occasion when he ever saw snow he ate it. Ighalo, 26, is currently appreciating the wealth of English football, and his excursion from inward city hardship in Africa to Watford's tilt at Premier League survival, is presently the measuring stick for children who long for turning from somberness to success. Today, Ighalo will be on the Hornets forefront against high-flying Swansea having quite recently marked another five-year contract at Vicarage Road. Watford have yet to score at home under head mentor Quique Sanchez Flores, yet the Nigerian global striker has persevered through more awful privation. "I originate from the ghetto where there was no 24-hour power, no great water, terrible streets and the area is intense," he said. "We used to kick old jars, plastic jugs, now and again even an orange, around the avenues in uncovered feet. "Whatever I go ahead to accomplish in football, I will dependably express gratefulness to God for this chance to experience my fantasy – however I will likewise always remember where I originated from. "Ajegunle is the place my trip started and I'm pleased with that. My first group, Olodi Warriors, used to play on a grass pitch referred to provincially as the "Maracana" yet it was truly a major, totally open field. "On one corner there were young men offering cannabis and they were continually being pursued by the police when they cut over the pitch. We would hit the floor when we heard the 'pop, pop, pop' of gunfire and after that keep preparing. "It's a piece of life, however projectiles don't generally know who are the footballers and who are the awful gentlemen." Ighalo was scouted by Norway's Lyn Oslo as a 17-year-old, and the most youthful of seven youngsters left Nigeria to look for his fortune in a nation where temperatures were regularly 70 degrees colder. "There were three players from Nigeria who went to Norway – however one of them needed to go home in light of the fact that he couldn't adapt to the frosty," he said. "I could undoubtedly have tailed him, however when I thought about the hardship I abandoned, I was not going to take off all of a sudden. "I had never seen snow in Nigeria. The first occasion when it snowed in Oslo I was similar to a kid. I was eating it, rubbing it on my head, tossing it noticeable all around like confetti... it was another toy." Following 10 months, Ighalo was trapped in the web of Watford's proprietors, the Italian Pozzo tradition, joining Udinese before being credited out to their Spanish club, Granada, where he is venerated. Ighalo scored the champ in ­consecutive play-off finals as Granada jumped to La Liga. His glad talent of scoring imperative objectives and winning advancement persisted after his turn to Vicarage Road 14 months prior. At the point when Watford, trailing 2-1, were down to 10 men at Derby on Good Friday, Ighalo snaffled a valuable equalizer. After three days, his rocket against Middlesbrough in another advancement shootout secured a vital 2-0 win and made the Hornets trust they were going up. Ighalo was missing the goal on the opening day of this season in a 2-2 draw at Goodison Park, leaving England's John Stones on his rear with his mark "scoop" turn. "I've been sufficiently fortunate to score some essential objectives, however my work is not done," he said. "One day, when I've taken in substantial income in football, I might want to retreat to Ajegunle and give better pitches, assist the with kidsing at grassroots levels. "My mum needed to work so hard, offering filtered water and soda pops, to pay for my first match of adidas Copa Mundial boots, and all that I am today I owe to her and to