{"id":165443,"date":"2025-05-16T06:14:35","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T06:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2025\/05\/16\/from-tears-of-rejection-to-peace-ezes-story-of-resilience-and-faith\/"},"modified":"2025-05-16T06:14:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T06:14:35","slug":"from-tears-of-rejection-to-peace-ezes-story-of-resilience-and-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2025\/05\/16\/from-tears-of-rejection-to-peace-ezes-story-of-resilience-and-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"From tears of rejection to 'peace' – Eze's story of resilience and faith"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Men’s FA Cup final<\/b><\/p>\n

Date: <\/b>Saturday, 17 May Venue: <\/b>Wembley Stadium Kick-off:<\/b> 16:30 BST<\/p>\n

Coverage: <\/b>Watch live from 15:25 on <\/b>BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app. Build-up and live radio commentary on 5 Live from 16:00.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Let go by Arsenal. Released by Fulham and Reading. Trials at Bristol City and Sunderland that came to nothing. Told by Millwall: “thanks, but no thanks.” All before the age of 18.<\/p>\n

It would have been easy for Eberechi Eze to give up on his dream of becoming a professional footballer.<\/p>\n

After all, the youngster from a council estate in Greenwich, south-east London, had experienced nothing but pain, frustration and crushing rejection.<\/p>\n

“I remember facing Arsenal a few months after being released by them [at the age of 13] and welling up because of all the emotions and not dealing properly with the feelings of being released,” says Eze.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t know how to process it. I had tears ready to pour down my face.”<\/p>\n

Having been told by Millwall he would not be handed a professional contract at the end of a two-year scholarship in 2016, Eze had another trial – this time with Sunderland – which was unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

His confidence was at an all-time low.<\/p>\n

Then Queens Park Rangers offered him a chance – and the rest is history.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Eze is set to feature in the FA Cup final for Crystal Palace, who will win a first major trophy if they beat Manchester City at Wembley (16:30 BST kick-off).<\/p>\n

From growing up playing football with jumpers for goalposts in a cage with friends to representing England at Euro 2024, Eze’s story is one resilience, determination, faith and self-belief.<\/p>\n

It is a journey full of rejections and tribulations that is all too familiar with so many youngsters who have spent time in academies up and down the country.<\/p>\n

“I remember the deflation,” Eze says about the knockbacks he received as he tried to find his way in the game.<\/p>\n

“But all I kept asking myself was: ‘When’s the next trial? When’s the next trial?'”<\/p>\n

Watch the full interview with Eberechi Eze on the BBC iPlayer now or during BBC One’s build-up to the FA Cup final on Saturday from 15:25 BST. <\/b><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

At 26, Eze is reaching his prime, having established himself under Roy Hodgson, Patrick Vieira and now Oliver Glasner at Crystal Palace.<\/p>\n

He has seven goals and eight assists in the Premier League this season.<\/p>\n

In addition, three of Palace’s 12 FA Cup goals have come from the number 10 – including a wonderful finish from outside the box that set his team on the way to a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa in last month’s semi-final.<\/p>\n

After all those rejections at a young age, he is reaping the rewards of refusing to give up. <\/p>\n

“I feel like the journey I’ve been on has forced me to grow up, improve and be better,” adds Eze, who grew up in a Christian household, regularly going to church.<\/p>\n

“I know so many people who got released from one club, got released from Arsenal and that was it – they stopped playing. The fact I am in this position, I can only say God thank you because I could be anywhere doing anything. <\/p>\n

“But the love of football never left.”<\/p>\n

After Arsenal, Eze spent two and a half years at Fulham’s academy before being released. Then a trial at Reading resulted in a familiar sinking feeling.<\/p>\n

After being let go by Millwall in 2016, he was invited up to Sunderland.<\/p>\n

“I was there for a week,” adds Eze.<\/p>\n

“I remember getting home, lying on bunk beds with my brothers and praying: ‘Please give me a pro contract, I know I can do it.’<\/p>\n

“Then I got the news I hadn’t got it. I remember the deflation. But always it was ‘what’s next?’ That’s when QPR came.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

By 2018, Eze – aged 19 – was making regular appearances for QPR.<\/p>\n

“I met people at QPR who saw me and understood what I could do,” he says. “It was a journey getting there – so many clubs, so many rejections.”<\/p>\n

He credits technical director Chris Ramsey, coaches Andy Impey and Paul Hall, and former QPR forward Les Ferdinand with helping with his development and building up his confidence at Loftus Road.<\/p>\n

“I’m hugely grateful for them because that was the changing point in my career, and my belief shifted because of them,” adds Eze.<\/p>\n

“They opened my eyes. They taught me it can’t just be nutmegs. They improved me massively, they saw potential in me. It was just about bringing it out.”<\/p>\n

When Eze completed a \u00a319.5m move across London to Crystal Palace in August 2020, he had 20 Championship goals to his name.<\/p>\n

He had gone from Millwall reject to Premier League forward in the space of four years.<\/p>\n

Does Eze feel any resentment towards the clubs who rejected him? <\/p>\n

“I don’t look back at any of the teams and say, ‘oh, they shouldn’t have released me’,” he says.<\/p>\n

“That’s the decision they made at the time and it made sense for them. Of course, now it looks like they’ve made a mistake. But at the time, it was probably clear for them to make that decision. <\/p>\n

“So, I don’t blame anyone, to be honest. I feel like the journey I’ve been on has forced me to grow up, improve and be better. <\/p>\n

“I haven’t been given anything. All that I have in football is because God has blessed me and given me the opportunity to apply myself and work hard for it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Talk to those who have known Eze since he was a boy honing his skills in a small yellow cage in Greenwich, and there is immense pride at how far he has come.<\/p>\n

“Growing up in south-east London, playing football in cages was a social thing with our mates,” Dajon Golding, a school friend of Eze’s and now a striker at Scottish League Two side Elgin City, says.<\/p>\n

“Even from a young age, Ebs always said he would play at the high level. A lot of us said that. We had big dreams and were naive.<\/p>\n

“But it’s a testament to Ebs that he has achieved it.”<\/p>\n

Eze’s younger brother Chimaechi, who plays for Palace’s Under-21 side,, external<\/span> says he is a source of inspiration.<\/p>\n

“As a little brother seeing all the setbacks he has gone through, if I am in that situation I don’t know if I could have continued,” he adds. <\/p>\n

“So him showing that for the family helps everyone to push on when going through tough times. He is 100% an inspiration. He has shown you can always change the narrative.”<\/p>\n

Despite his elevation to the England team, scoring against Latvia in March, Eze has not forgotten where it all started.<\/p>\n

“I just got in contact with the two guys who taught me how to play football [in the cage], Gabriel and Rafael,” he adds. “They are the reason I play football the way I do now. <\/p>\n

“They showed me all the skills and I owe so much to them.”<\/p>\n

Lisa Shaw, Eze’s former teacher at Fossdene Primary School in Charlton, has seen how he had stayed connected with his roots.<\/p>\n

She tells the story of him inviting children from his old school to watch Palace train.<\/p>\n

“He sent a fleet of cars to pick them up. It was very generous,” she says.<\/p>\n

“The children look up to him. He has had a lot of setbacks in his career but he was resilient. That’s why he’s such a good role model.”<\/p>\n

Will Eze score another wonder goal in Saturday’s showpiece final – like he did in the semi-final?<\/p>\n

“I think he felt at peace when that went in,” adds Golding about Eze’s stunner against Villa.<\/p>\n

“Words cannot describe how proud I am to call Ebs my friend. I am super proud of his journey and what he is going to achieve in the future. <\/p>\n

“I have seen all the highs and the lows he has been through – and it is breathtaking.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Men’s FA Cup final Date: Saturday, 17 May Venue: Wembley Stadium Kick-off: 16:30 BST Coverage: Watch live from 15:25 on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app. Build-up and live radio commentary on 5 Live from 16:00. Let go by Arsenal. Released by Fulham and Reading. 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