Swansea winger Modou Barrow said it is beyond his wildest dreams to be on the same pitch as boyhood hero Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Barrow, 24, was born in Gambia but grew up in Sweden where he idolised Ibrahimovic who he will play against at the Liberty on Sunday.
It will also complete a remarkable story which began with the heartbreak of losing his mother at a young age to realising his dream of becoming a footballer.
Barrow said: “All my friends back home in Sweden wants me to swap shirts with him so they can have it, they say that I’ll get more opportunities to get his shirt, but I’ve said that I might want to keep it for myself or give it to my dad.
“I watched Zlatan on the television when I was a little kid in Gambia, he’s one of the greatest players I’ve seen, and when I moved to Sweden it felt like I was moving to Zlatan’s home.
“I never dreamt that I one day would be playing against Zlatan, but that just shows you what you can achieve with hard work, discipline and the right attitude.
“It’s every players dream to play in this league with these amazing crowds, but my aim is to be even better, as good as I possibly can. I’m not satisfied.”
Barrow has dual citizenships from being born in Gambia but his mother Wantio died when he was just ten.
That led to his father Abass moving to Sweden a year later to get a job with Volvo and the Swansea winger admits it was a difficult choice when both countries wanted him to play for them.
But Barrow chose to play for Gambia to allow him to go back to Africa so he could visit his mother’s grave regularly as he admits her death is still painful.
Barrow said: “My mother passed away when I was little so it felt like the right thing to do. I thought that if I choose Gambia I can visit her grave every time I play there.
In pictures: Fenerbahce 2-1 United
"I go there every time we play at home. It was also a way to pay tribute to my mother.
“But both places feels like my home and I support both Sweden and Gambia. In the end, I decided to follow my heart.
“She always believed in me when I was little and she used to take all her savings and use it for my football gear, the things I needed.
“So now this motivates me to be as good as I can possibly be, to do all I can do to achieve my goals. I want to make her proud. She made so many sacrifices for me. I think of her a lot.
“I actually still don’t know the cause of death. When I was little, I was only ten years old, they didn’t want me to tell me everything because they didn’t want me to think to much about it.
“And I still don’t want to think to much about it, But I pray for her every day that she is in a better place.”