Sleeping Outside in Paris, Then Captaining PSG

Mamadou Sakho grew up in a rough area of Paris with seven siblings. He lost his father when he was 13. In an interview reported by Sports Illustrated in October 2018, he spoke openly about hardships in his youth that he rarely discusses, saying he knew what it was to sleep outside or to ask for coins. He added that there were times when he had to take food in order to eat.

Sakho described that period as his real life. He said those hard moments helped him grow up, and that he never talks about them because he is proud. He said he had always planned to give back once he was successful.

His football career began in 1996 when he joined Paris FC, a local club. Six years later, in 2002, he moved to Paris Saint-Germain, where he stayed for more than a decade and made over 200 appearances for the first team.

In 2013 he left PSG for Liverpool for a large fee. He made 80 appearances for the English club but never secured a regular place in the starting line-up, and he was loaned to Crystal Palace. Palace later signed him permanently for £25 million. By the time of the article he had 91 Premier League appearances and was 28 years old.

He is also a France international, and in October 2018 he was back in the national squad. The article presents the story as a reminder of how far he has come from the streets where he grew up.