17 August 2020
Diary Entry 1
My name is Youssoufa Moukoko, and this is the story of my football career. Before I tell you my story, let me give you a brief bit of history.
I was born in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Yaoundé is the capital city of my country, so you could say I am a ‘big city boy’. In Cameroon I grew up with my Grandparents, as my parents lived in Germany. My father lives in Hamburg and has been a German citizen since the 1990’s. He was the one who brought me to Germany where I live now, but I will tell you more about that later.
As a kid growing up I always wanted to be a professional footballer. I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. I told everyone I knew that I was going to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world one day. My dream is to play for the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid or Juventus. When I was younger I had a number of idols, but one player was my hero. Every boy from Cameroon looks up to this guy, he is like a God in my country. Samuel Eto’o is one of, if not my favourite player of all time. I remember watching videos of him playing for Barcelona everyday after school, then I would go outside and recreate his goals. I wanted to grow up and play just like Eto’o, I only wanted to score goals.
Moving on a little, I ended up moving to Germany to live with my Father and this is when I had the opportunity to trial for a number of academies in Germany. I played quite well at numerous trials and one club decided to take a chance. My professional career started at FC St. Pauli when I signed with them in 2014. I started off playing for the under-13s team and in my first season I scored 23 goals in 13 games. Not bad aye? Another year later a scout from Borussia Dortmund came to one of my games where I scored 4 goals in 27 minutes. After the match he pulled me to the side and said that he has been watching me play for about 9 months, and he wanted me to sign for Dortmund. He said I would have the chance to play alongside Marco Reus, Kagawa and Dembélé. But the thing he said to me that I liked the most was “You remind me of Eto’o”. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t say no. Then the next day I signed, packed my bags and headed to Dortmund.
When I moved to Dortmund it was the first time in my life that I was living away from my family. I was a little nervous, but I knew what I had to do, I had to focus on my football, and continue doing what I do best, scoring goals. As I settled into my life in Dortmund, I felt unbelievably confident and couldn’t stop scoring goals. I scored 90 goals in 56 games for the U17s. The next season I was moved to the U19s and I continued my hot form, scoring 44 goals in 23 games. I started getting a lot of media attention. I gained millions of fans on Instagram, I was touted as the next ‘wonderkid’ and I couldn’t be happier with the direction my football career was heading. Then, the moment I had worked so hard for, finally came. I was called up into the first team squad at Borussia Dortmund at just 15.
This is where I am at now, I am in the Dortmund squad, but due to the Bundesliga rules I cannot play for the senior team until I turn 16. I am counting down the days until I can play, my birthday is on November 20, so I still have a few months before I can play. Until then I will be training with the senior squad, but I will ask the staff if I can play for the youth team to keep match sharpness.
Last thing before I head off to bed, I saved the best news for last. 2 days ago we had a new manager appointed at Borussia Dortmund, and I thought I was dreaming when I heard the news… Samuel Eto’o is our new head coach! This is his first real managerial opportunity after he had a short interim spell in Turkey. I cannot wait to meet him tomorrow and tell him how he is my idol. I believe under the tutorship of Eto’o, sky's the limit for my career and I cannot wait to share my story with the world. Until next time.
Y Moukoko.
