WOLVES S FAMILY MAKE DICKO FEEL AT HOME
NO WONDER Nouha Dicko is so adept with a ball at his feet. Growing up in Paris, the Wolves striker had an entire 11-a-side team to practice with – plus subs!
One of an incredible 13 kids, the 22-year-old has eight brothers and four sisters cheering him on from the French capital.
“People in Europe are always amazed,” laughs Dicko, whose parents were born in the West African nation of Mali. “But in Africa it is very common to have such a big family. I guess we follow the Malian traditions.
“I am the fourth eldest. The youngest is not even two yet so there is like a 20-year difference between us!”
You might expect an immigrant’s son from an inner city suburb to tell the familiar tale of a poverty, crime and tough teenage years on the mean streets. Yet Dicko has no time for these old cliches, recalling his childhood with nothing but fondness.
Happy
“My family were not rich,” says Dicko. “But we had enough and I never woke up thinking ‘I wish I had this, I wish I had that’. I am the same now. Yes, I can buy more things than I had before, but money is not what makes me happy. “We grew up on an estate in the south of Paris and I loved it. There were lots of things to do, lots of places to make friends.
“And the house was never empty. There was always someone to play with. My brothers and my friends were always talking about football. We all chose different teams to support so on the weekend when we watched football on TV we would always have a lot of jokes about who was best. Then we would go out and play ourselves. It was a very happy time. “I see them when I have the time but I don’t go back to
Lamand. “H