Belgian star Kevin de Bruyne has acknowledged that being rejected by a foster family as a teenager fuelled his footballing success.
The 27-year-old attacking midfielder, who on Wednesday will be pivotal as Manchester City aim to stay on track for a quadruple this season in overhauling Tottenham's 1-0 first leg lead in their Champions League quarter-final clash, has bounced back from two knee injuries this season to the kind of form he has regularly displayed since City paid ?54million ($70.6million) to German side VfL Wolfsburg for him in 2015.
However, it may never have come to pass like that but for the deep hurt he suffered aged 15 at the hands of the family in Genk who took him in when he was with the club's academy.
"That year went by, and I was doing well in school, doing well in football. No fights. No problems," he told The Players Tribune.
"At the end of the year, I packed my bags and said goodbye to my foster family.
"They said: 'We'll see you after the break. Have a good summer.'" De Bruyne said his sense of serenity was shattered hours later.
"As soon as I got back to my parents' house, I walked in the door and could see that my mother was crying," he said.
"I thought maybe somebody had died or something. I said, 'What's the problem?'
"I said: 'What? Why?' and she said: 'Because of who you are. They said you're too quiet. They can't interact with you. They said you were difficult'."
- 'They had really hurt me' -
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