Dani Alves : The inspiring story from cement to glory.

Most everyone has a role model in their life. They could be a parent, a friend, a teacher, or a sports hero. He or she could be someone you read about in a book.

A role model is hard to define, because it can be different for everyone. Who your role model is depends as much on you as it does on the person you admire. Often, it is someone you would like to be like when you get older, or someone who does something you find hard to do.

The person I chose as my role model is Dani Alves not because I'm a fan of football but because of his inspiring story of how he made his climb towards his glory.

Daniel Alves Da Silva, commonly known as Dani Alves, was born into a working class family on May 6th 1983, in Juazeiro, a city in the Brazilian State of Bahía.

His 4 brothers explain that, at only a six-years-old, Dani wouldn't stop signing his name all over the walls in the house, as well as his notebooks, claiming that he was practising his signature for the day he would be known all over the work.

From an early age, Dani woke up with his father at 4 a.m. to help him work in the fields of Salitre, a village located 30 km far from Juazeiro.

He would help his father tirelessly, with no rest, working the land and facing the recurring problem of wet and dry seasons. Such complications turned agriculture into a dificult way to make a living as one season was prosperous but the next one was not.

Dani supported his family in any way he could, working as a farmer, a trader or even as a waiter if necessary. The athlete though, always found time for his greatest passion, playing football with his friends in the surrounding fields. This would soon lead him to achieve his dream of becoming a professional football player, but he was always aware that it would be difficult to accomplish.

Neither would it be easy for Dani to arrive at the sports facilities to train because they were located far from his village, Juazeiro.

This youth’s journey was not easy and in spite of waking up at 4 in the morning in order to help his father, of sleeping on a cement bed, and of temperatures up to 40 Degree Celsius on the field, he says he was happy.

The person responsible for moving Alves to his current position was a coach named Caboclinho. Dani, and history, have shown he made the right decision. Nobody would have thought that in the future Dani Alves would be the best right-back in the world.

At age 13, Alves moved with his brother to Juazeiro where they rented a house. Dani usually skipped lessons to train day and night with the local team’s youth division.

José Carlos Quiroz, then coach of Palmeiras de Salitre, was asked to move to Bahia to train the local team. He demanded to take Lucas with him, the skipper of the team, but the club would only let him go if he took Dani Alves as well.

Two years later Dani was living in Bahia and playing for the junior squad (the second team of Bahía). Despite many difficult experiences (including being robbed,) he continued to follow his dream.

The rest is history as you can see where Dani Alves stands now as one of the world's most famous football players. If a man can reach glory by spending his childhood sleeping on a cement bed then I'm definitely sure we all can too. Hope he inspires others as much as he inspires me.

Photo of Dani Alves taken as a child with his siblings.

Photo of Dani Alves taken during the beginning of his football career.

The day Dani flew his father to Berlin to watch him win.

Photo of Dani Alves taken with Neymar.

Photo credit : Google.com