Reds kid is happy to be normal
IN a week Roy Hodgson suggested Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford is on his radar ahead of Euro 2016, the teenage striker might want to seek out advice from someone who’s been there, done that, got the T-shirt.
When United play Liverpool in the Europa League on Thursday, Rashford is likely to come up against Divock Origi.
The young Belgian was fast-tracked into the 2014World Cup squad at 19 despite playing only 40 games for Lille and ended up scoring a winning goal in the Maracana.
Origi secured a £10m move to Liverpool after that tournament but was loaned back to his Belgian club for a season, and is only now breaking t into Jurgen Klopp’s team.
Origi, however, provides a good example of keeping his feet on the ground in the face of the hype.
“Things went so quickly from being a sub at Lille, to scoring in the World Cup, to signing for Liverpool,” says the striker.
“I’ve had some ups and downs but I have learned a lot. That’s down to my family and, in particular, my father.
“It’s not easy to keep your feet on the ground. The people around you have to help.
“Football is very important in my family. My dad has six brothers and they all play. I have a cousin who plays in Norway.
“My father was the first Kenyan to play in Europe. He was known as ‘Normal Mike’ in Belgium because he was so down to earth.
“I try to be as normal as I can. People compare me to my father. I am the younger version – not exactly the same, but I can see myself in him.
“He told me that you have to respect yourself and give everything on the pitch. Off the pitch, it’s very important to keep your values.
“I am a religious person so that helps. Those are things that are very important because in this type of environment you can lose your head very quickly.”
It was his mum and dad who allowed the 15-year-old Divock to decide between staying at Lille or signing for Manchester United.
“I came back from school one day and my parents sat me down,” he recalls. “I knew the way that they wanted things to go but they told me I could choose.
“I had a day of thinking and the most logical option was Lille.
“I thought I’d have the chance to progress there.
“My dream was to play in the Premier League but my heart said that I had to go to Lille.”