There are numerous African footballers,who grew up in Europe, and never had it easy growing up. It was always from one struggle or problem to the other.

Ngolo Kanté is not an exception as he struggled for the teenage part of his life, before his big break came through football.

He was born without a silver spoon in his mouth and he spent his childhood not having enough to eat in the family but he kept aspiring to play football, Kante never gave up on the hope of defeating poverty.

Pictures clearly shows him in exotic cars and live in magnificent mansions with endorsements from big European brands

Let's take a brief look at how Ngolo Kante defeated poverty 

N'Golo Kanté was born on 29 March 1991 in Paris,France to his parents Mr. and Mrs. Ngolo. He grew up in Rueil Malmaison. His father died not far after he turned 11.

Being the first son after his father passed away, the financial support of the family passed on him. He learnt that working hard was the only way in Rueil Malmaison where he grew up.

Both the midfielder and his mother were took up the menial jobs so that they would be able to lay food on the table for the family. Kante's mother was also into cleaning jobs as Ngolo at that time worked as a dustbin picker. Kante would often walk for countless kilometers picking less valuable items thrown out as waste, gather and submit for quick cash, most notably was in 1998 when the FIFA World Cup tournament was taking place in France and there were lots of wastes and dustbins to pick.

After sometimes, Ngolo Kanté left the job of dust picking and ventured into selling sugarcane, he worked very hard.

Ngolo started playing football at the tender age of eight at JS Suresnes,and he spent 10 years there. in 2010, he joined Boulogne. He made his professional debut in the the Ligue 2 season on 18 May 2012 a 1–2 home defeat for his already relegated team to Monaco.

He later played in the third-tier Championnat National.

Kante then proceeded to join Ligue 2 team,Caen in 2013

The talented midfielder joined Leicester in 2015 on a four-year contract.

Kanté signed for London Fc,Chelsea in 2016 for a reported fee of £32 million. After completing the transfer with Chelsea, Kanté said: "I am so happy to have signed for one of the biggest clubs in Europe. It’s a dream come true for me.

He was a static member of the Chelsea's midfield and he aided the Blues to claim the premier league in 2016. In 2018, Ngole Kante made a major success in his football career by being of the France squad that lifted the world cup trophy.

The poor beginning of Ngolo Kante is just a proof that,there is nothing God is incapable of. So far as there is life,there is hope.

Everyone argues over the amount Ronaldo and Messi earns at the top of their voices and reach an inconclusive conclusion every time but no one argues the amount of debt these same footballers run into at the latter part of lives. Managing the huge financial resources from soccer has become a burden to some African players.

These players, during their career, earn big. However, at the twilight of their profession, they end up extremely broke. Some are as a result of poor investment decisions. And for some mainly due to social life. In this article, we take a look t on some of Africa’s brightest soccer talents who ended up broke after retirement.

One of the big names during his playing days, Fanteni was reported to have loved the lavish life. Known as the “Terror”, he was part of the South African squad at the 2008 African Nations Cup and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.

He, unfortunately, ran out of cash after spending a huge chunk of his funds on women, cars and luxury brands.

The former Orlando Pirates man went broke after he used most of the hard-earned wealth to cut ties with his club Orlando Pirates. The incident, unfortunately, cut in deep into his finances and that drag him to use drugs.

After a decade of drug abuse and sleeping on the streets, the 41-year-old currently coaches the under-11 team at the Education Through Soccer Academy (Etsa) in Ruimsig, west of Joburg.

Ex Nigerian international, Wilson Oruma was one of the brightest talents to play for the national team. A junior world cup winner, he was the star of the 1993 tournament, scoring six goals. He maintained his form and played for the senior side.

After retirement, Oruma was reported to have been suffering from emotional disorder after he was allegedly duped by a fake clergyman on December 12. His $3 million meant he became broke after his playing career.