Aden Hussein Ibrahim, nicknamed Eeney, was born in the town of Wajid in the south western Somali region of Bakool in 1993 and has no relatives in the capital Mogadishu where he currently lives.

Eeney arrived in Mogadishu as a ten-year old in search of job and a better life than what he had in Wajid. He became a shoe shiner because there was nothing else he could do at that time.  

The young man based himself in the village of Ged Jacayl in the Wardhigley district which lies in the centre of the Somali capital where a kind-hearted gentleman called Abdi Said guaranteed his daily meals.  

The former shoe shiner and street boy says he used to save the money he earnt from cleaning shoes on the streets of Mogadishu and send it to his parents in Wajid each month. 

Eeney was "discovered" by Somali Football Federation President Said Mahmoud Nur who saw him playing football in the village streets with other young boys his age. The president watched him perform for five minutes, got out of his car and struck up a conversation which changed the young guy's life.

“The president told me that my playing was really great and then asked me to go with him to a compound where hundreds of young boys were being trained in football under the FIFA-funded youth training football programme. I started my training there and here I am!" the youngster said. 

He was then included in the Somali national U-17 soccer squad and recently left for Sudan to participate in the 2009 CECAFA U-17 tournament, which is currently underway.  

The former shoe shiner has given his deepest thanks to SFF President Said Mahmoud Nur for giving him a new life, and to Abdi Said who has provided his daily meals for the past few years. 

“I never ever thought that I would travel by plane and now here I am, a Somali flag carrier representing my nation," the young star said. 

Eeney is only one of many street boys, former child soldiers and shoe shiners who were trained in football and now he has high hopes for a bright future in football.

Below: Dressed in the national uniform Eeny trains in the Somali Police Academy shortly before heading to the 2009 CECAFA U-17 tournament in Sudan. (Photo by Shafici Mohyaddin Abokar, SSPA Vice-president).

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