Fulham’s Denis Odoi: ‘At 16 they told me I wouldn’t become a footballer’

The defender discusses the horror of his play-off final red card, being naughtier than Dries Mertens at school and how his love of coffee may lead him to open a London cafe

“I was thinking I would need to call my agent and look for a new club,” Denis Odoi says as he remembers the stress of watching the closing stages of last season’s Championship play-off final in Fulham’s dressing room at Wembley. Odoi had been reduced to the role of spectator following his red card for a foul on Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish and all he could do was pray that his teammates would bail him out. They were the longest 20 minutes of his life.

Alone in his thoughts, it occurred to the Belgian that he was in danger of going from hero to zero. Two weeks after scoring Fulham’s winner in the semi-final against Derby County, his season was on the verge of ending in despair.

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from Football | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Oi6ewp