A whole new ball game for brave Toto
SHREWSBURY defender Toto Nsiala has gone from being Mr Angry to Mr Happy.
Nsiala, 26, is 90 minutes away from the Championship as he prepares to face Rotherham at Wembley this afternoon.
And it has been a long journey to get his career back on track.
The DR Congo star took two years out suffering with depression after being freed by Everton then seeing dad Phillip become paralysed from the waist down due to a spinal tumour affecting his nervous system.
Nsiala said: “I was the angriest kid on the planet because I felt I’d let my dad down and I couldn’t help him.
“I couldn’t look people in the eye knowing I came from Everton and now didn’t even have a car. I felt worthless.”
He got his mojo back in Vietman with a two-month spell at TDCS Dong Thap.
But his anger led to many bookings until a year’s counselling transformed him.
“It was about controlling my anger and thinking happy thoughts and it’s worked really well,” he said.
“Vietnam made me appreciate what I had.
“I saw poverty, but people were still happy with what they had.
“I made up my mind to play football at whatever level and just enjoy it.”
Becoming a father to Arabella, one, completed his transition.
“That’s been a massive change for me,” he said.
“I enjoy my family being happy now and promotion would be life-changing.”
Rotherham boss Paul Warne admits it will be “bizarre” coming up against a side managed by his close pal and former team-mate Paul Hurst, who made 494 appearances for the Millers as a player.
Warne said: “It is surreal leading the club out at Wembley and to then face my old team-mate who I played more than 200 times with is bizarre.
“Hursty is not the enemy, so it will be weird going into combat.”
For that reason, he will keep his celebrations in check if his side get the better of Shrewsbury today.
“If I beat Hursty I will be buzzing internally but I will not be show-offy in any way, as I don’t think that is right as I would have broken the heart of my mate,” he said.
Rotherham v Shrewsbury Today, 3pm, Sky Sports Football