From grass to grace- The humbling story of Hakim Ziyech

Hakim Ziyech is the true definition of persistence is key when you want to achieve in life. The football star plays for the Moroccan national team and Chelsea.

Ziyech was born on March 19, 1993, in Dronten, Netherlands. His dad was from the Netherlands although he died when the Chelsea star was barely 11 years old.

His mother is Moroccan no wonder Ziyech plays for the Morocco national team. His upbringing was tough after the death of his father in 2003.

Ziyech used to stay away from school most of the time without any explanations. It is said that the demise of his father changed his life in very any aspects.

The Moroccan international discovered that he could play football at a very young age but his dream was about to be shattered after his dad's death as he started drinking and smoking due to stress.

As a young man who had lost hope in life felt like a lost kid in the wilderness before former footballer Aziz Doukifar came around and rescued him from drugs and all the illegal stuff that he was into.

Ziyech joined SC Heerenveen in 2008 but he had not cleared his mind yet on what he wanted to achieve in life. He was a troublesome kid.

Those around him especially grown-ups knew that he was a talented boy hence they needed to figure out how to get the maximum out of him. All these happened after he had quit school at the age of 16.

Aziz Doukifar helped the young Ziyech to navigate through the SC Heerenveen before he joined FC Twente in 2014 on a three-year contract. It was a great breakthrough in his career.

Ziyech didn't last for long at Twente and Ajax came knocking at his doorstep. It was something that he had been waiting for and definitely the reason why he was playing beautiful football.

His major breakthrough in his career came when Ajax faced Chelsea in the Champions League and he played a starring role in the 4-4 draw against The Blues.

Chelsea snatched him from Ajax after noticing that he is a team player where he is to date. Ziyech is however on the verge of quitting Chelsea for lack of playing time.

Hakim Ziyech impressed in Qatar with the Moroccan national team after helping his country to get to the coveted semi-finals of the tournament.

It has also been reported that he donated all of his World Cup earnings to help the less fortunate during these difficult moments that the whole world is going through.