Togo international, Emmanuel Adebayor, has disclosed that he almost committed suicide due to his parent excessive demand beyond what his salary could cater for.
Adebayor made his first European journey when he joined Metz of France from OC Agaza, a youth club in Togo in 2001, where he had his football breakthrough.
He also represented the Hawks of Togo at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where the team crashed out in the group stages in a group that consists of Switzerland, South Korea and France.
Isolated in a foreign country, his vulnerabilities emerged before falling into brief silent, where he recounted how close he came to taken his own life.
‘I was 16,’ he says. ‘All I wanted to do was help my family out but they put huge pressure on me. I could not cope with it. When a family is poor, everyone is poor and there is huge solidarity. People will take a bullet for you. But when one makes it, it is like you owe everyone,” Adebayor told Dailymail.
‘At Metz I was on maybe £3,000 a month. My family asked for a house worth £500,000. The club were tired of me because of my behaviour. I remember sitting on my bed one night and just thinking “What am I doing here? Nobody’s happy with me, so what is the point of living?”
‘There was a pharmacy below my apartment. I bought packet after packet of tablets. They did not want to sell it to me but I said it was for a charity in Togo. I made the preparations, I drank all the water. I was ready to go. Then I called my best friend at midnight.
‘He told me not to rush, that I have things to live for. “You have the potential to change Africa.” I thought “You are a dream-seller and I am not buying any dreams right now.” But he took me out of the moment. I thought God must be keeping for something.’