Summary
People on the Hornets team talk about their lives so far in their own words.
The person this time is Edo Kayembe…
Football History
It wasn’t easy for me to learn how to play football when I was very young in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where I live.
Being told by my family that I should go to school instead of play football made things hard.
But football was always in the back of my mind.
I also wanted to do well in school.
I did get to watch football, though.
When I was younger, Ronaldinho was my favorite star.
I used to watch football at the movies sometimes.
The best Champions League games would be shown there.
I became interested in sports again when I was 14 or 15 years old.
Always thought that if someone got mad at me for playing football today.
I would play football tomorrow instead.
That’s how much I liked the game.
My dad really wanted me to keep going to school, so I did.
I also started learning how to be an electrician.
Now, don’t ask me to help you with anything that has to do with power!
Leaving Africa
Because I was young, it was hard for me to decide to leave Africa, but I was so eager to play football.
It makes me happy to play for my country.
That was one of my childhood dreams, and it’s so cool that it’s now a reality.
A group of scouts from Anderlecht came to Congo one day and watched my team play.
Afterward, they asked me if I wanted to go to Europe.
Their desire for me to go straight to Belgium to sign the deal showed how much they liked me.
It was okay with my mom, so I left, and soon after, I signed.
It was hard to say goodbye to my family and friends.
In fact, that trip to Belgium was the first time I had ever left my country. But I picked that life.
When I moved to Anderlecht, one of my young coaches, Emilio Ferrera, told me I should try to play in midfield because we had a few injuries.
Watching players like Ronaldinho made me want to play as a winger.
He told me after the game that I played well and that if I kept working hard, I could make this my job.
I told them I don’t like to defend myself! Emilio told me I was good at defense and that I might like it more than I thought.
I got to play football with the first team at Anderlecht, and I really liked it.
Anderlecht told me to wait because they wanted me to play more.
Even though I was, I knew it would be best to try to get regular game time.
But I wanted to make the move official when Vincent Kompany took over as boss.
He said he would rather I go out on loan.
After that, I went to Eupen, which was great.
A lot of the time I played, even in the Europa League, but it was really cold.
The weather could change right away! I did well at Eupen, and in June 2021, my agent told me that Watford was interested.
Eupen didn’t want to let me go at that time, which was too bad.
How to Become a Hornet
Like when I played for Anderlecht, I waited calmly.
In the six months before the January transfer window,
I continued to fight, play, and give it my all. Watford was still interested,
which was good, and everyone agreed that we could make the move.
Eupen helped me move up in my job, and I’m very thankful.
That I was going to play in the Premier League was a big deal.
It was my dream.
It was my dream to play in that league,
but you never know how your career will go.
I had a terrible first six months, but I learned a lot as a football player during that time.
At that time, we played against some of the best teams in the world.
But the game here is different. It’s very high.
The thing I went through helped me in the long run.
You play every three days most of the time in the Championship,
which is very different from Belgium.
I was thrilled to finally score my first Watford goal against Rotherham United.
I want to help the team score a lot of goals.
That was a great pass from Ryan Porteous.
I took control of the ball and just tried to shoot.
It was even better when they won 5-0!