Pedro Porro, the 26-year-old Tottenham Hotspur full-back, helped the Spanish national team win the FIFA World Cup this summer. In an interview, he revealed that before reaching the top level, his family made many sacrifices to allow him to continue chasing his dream of becoming a footballer.

Porro reflected on those early years in an interview with ABC: "My childhood was very difficult, mainly due to economic problems. The family's financial situation was not good. Our family suffered a lot financially."

His parents' work situation meant his grandparents played a crucial role during his childhood. When his parents were at work, his grandparents were responsible for looking after him and accompanying him in his daily life: "My mother worked at Mercadona, and my father took on any work he could find, so I could only stay with my grandparents."

Porro remembers those early mornings when his mother had to leave for work before dawn, and he would stay at his grandparents' house: "When my mother went to work at 3, 4, or 5 in the morning, she would take me to my grandparents' house." As a child, he didn't fully understand it: "I often cried, crying to leave and be with my grandparents, and honestly, she understood that too."

As the years passed, Porro increasingly understood the effort his family put into realizing his dream, especially his grandfather. When his parents couldn't accompany him, his grandfather often took him to training and matches: "I was truly very lucky because my grandfather was always able to take me to play football and help me achieve my dream."

One of his most unforgettable memories is of his family making extra efforts to accompany him to matches: "We had a game at 10 AM in Alcobendas, there was no other way. I will never forget it. After the game, after we won, I contacted my family, and they told me they had been there 5 hours longer than I had, sleeping directly in the car."

When Porro moved to Madrid to join Rayo Vallecano's youth academy, he also had to adapt to living away from a familiar environment and balance football and studies in different ways: "To achieve a dream, some things have to be sacrificed. I wasn't very fond of studying; my mind was only on football, even a bit obsessed with it."

Now 26 years later, Porro still remembers those who accompanied him along the way. He knows that his achievements are due to his family's efforts, especially his grandfather: "I will do my best to repay him in the best possible way for everything he gave me back then."

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