Nigerian 18-year-old forward had a number of top European clubs interested in him before eventually opting to join Israeli side Hapoel Ra'anana in August
Peter Olawale needed just 21 minutes to announce himself at the Under-17s World Cup back in 2019.
Having been handed a starting berth for Nigeria's third group game in Brazil, the forward beat Australiagoalkeeper Adam Pavlesic with a terrific, curling, left-footed shot midway through the first half.
Though Nigeria eventually lost the match 2-1, it provided Olawale the opportunity to truly announce himself on the global stage.
Blessed with lightning-fast speed and - at 6'2" - a threatening aerial prowess, the 18-year-old forward has drawn comparisons with Brazil great Ronaldo Nazario, owing to his appetite for goals and his tendency to showboat when the game situation allows.
Olawale, who began life as a winger, idolises the Real Madrid and Barcelona legend, and has made no secret of his desire to follow in his footsteps.
“My role model is Ronaldo [Nazario],” he told Goal in an exclusive interview. “I love the way he played, he was fast, skilful and had power-packed shots too. These are the characteristics I possess.
“I watch his videos always and I keep working hard to do better than him. As much as I feel honoured getting compared with this football icon, I try to be myself always.”
Like most of his Lagos-born footballing peers, Olawale’s love for the beautiful game overtook his secondary school education, and he regularly absconded from academic activities to train with neighbouring grassroots teams.
This posed a big problem for his family, who had hoped for their son to become a mechanical engineer.
His father, who had fallen short in his own quest to become a professional footballer, first insisted on education, but after much persuading, Olawale senior finally relented and agreed to entrust his son’s sporting development to Tripple 44 Academy boss Samuel Olatunji-Okuku.
“At first, I did not take him so seriously because I felt he was doing nothing special, maybe because I was once a footballer,” Olawale’s father, Rauf, told Goal. “Several coaches would come to my house to convince me, but I was unyielding.
“Peter was doing badly in school, but I felt it would be an irrational decision asking him to drop out to pursue his football dream because so many youths [in Lagos] have wasted the better part of their life in their bid to chase football dreams.
“He is an introvert to the core but when he is with the ball, he becomes another creature entirely.
“Seeing him represent Nigeria at the U17 World Cup and also scoring against Australia still dominates my thoughts. I still feel like I’m dreaming.”
Olawale’s reserved demeanour off the field initially counted against him when he arrived at Tripple 44, with coaches initially believing he was too soft to make it as a professional.
That perception was soon shattered within nine minutes of his debut, though, as he netted twice to catch the attention of a number of onlookers.
source: goal.com