Nigerian forward, Cyriel Dessers has revealed that football was his plan B while his first plan in life was to earn a degree.
Cyriel Dessers who has played for FC Utrecht, Genk, Feyenoord (on loan), and is currently at Italian Serie A club, Cremonese, said he used to put the dream of having a degree in economics ahead of his football career.
However, as time goes on, football began to take prominence in his life which forced him to abandon his first dream to fully embrace his love for football.
Luckily for him, Cyriel Dessers got into a professional football club, OH Leuven in Belgium, his country of birth. Due to his proficiency especially in front of the goal, the Dutch club gave him his first professional contract when he was just 19 years old.
Since then, things have never been the same for the Nigeria international who was the top scorer in the UEFA Europa Conference League in the 2021-2022 season, Eredivisie top scorer in the 2019-2020 season, and made the Conference League team of the season.
Dessers has amassed 110 goals and 39 assists while playing for eight clubs in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy.
For Cremonese in Serie A, the 28-year-old forward has scored five goals, but he has not been able to do enough to lift the club out of last place.
He made his international debut in Nigeria colours in 2020. Since then, he has made three appearances and has scored a goal.
“For me, football was Plan B, the study was Plan A,” Dessers told TLN TV.
“And even when I became a professional player, quite late at 19 years old, my career went with ups and downs. But this is a part of me, and I will never give up.”
He added, “None of this came for free or came easy, but this only makes it worth more for me. When you have to work as hard as I did, when you have success, it only feels better. And you enjoy even more.”
