My mum taught me anything was possible, says Rio Ferdinand

LONDON - Footballer Rio Ferdinand is captain of England and Manchester United, and says that his mum, Janice, taught him that anything was possible in life.

When away from football, Rio, 32, has produced films, runs a record company, edits a digital magazine and has established the Rio Ferdinand Live The Dream Foundation, which helps young people from deprived areas.

“We were living on an estate in Peckham, south London, and I honestly could never see myself ever moving away. My mum would tell me to go out and see the world. That meant, at the time, other areas of London. My world was very small. It made me into a person who, if I want to do something, I will do it. I never put it off, because it can be too late if you do,” The Sun quoted Rio, as saying.

“She never made it feel as if we were struggling. My parents never married and they split up when I was about 12, but Mum had the good sense to not shut my father out of my life. There are so many split-ups, which are bitter and the kids are used like a weapon to wind up the other partner. My mum was not like that, so Dad stayed close and we did lots of things together,” he adds.

“I was encouraged by my mum to have application and desire. That is what helped me to become a footballer - and that’s why they (his friends) didn’t make it,” Rio says.

“My mum always worried about me. She was extremely strict and made sure I kept to the straight and narrow,” he adds.

“Around that time I began to go off the rails a bit. I was suddenly being invited into clubs, free of charge. The idea was to have a good drink, a late night and run it all off in training the next day. I remember my mum saying: “Stop going out or you will be on the scrap heap,” Rio recalls. (ANI)