FC Bayern’s Vincent Kompany Credits Humble Upbringing in Brussels’ North Quarter for His Success
In a rare and candid interview with the German magazine Spiegel, Vincent Kompany, the current trainer of FC Bayern München, revealed the pivotal role his humble beginnings in Brussels’ North Quarter played in shaping his remarkable career.
The Belgian football trainer, who grew up in a high-rise housing estate in the notorious North Quarter of Brussels, stressed that his background was not a disadvantage, but a strength. Kompany’s journey to the Bayern Munich training bench was deemed highly unlikely, especially given his father’s refugee status from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which would have put his chances of a successful career at “zero, zero, zero, nothing” percent, he quipped.
The North Quarter, Kompany recalled, was a harsh environment, with challenging living conditions, schools and future prospects. However, it was a conversation with his late mother, who was working at the job center, that had a profound impact on his life when he was just 11 years old. She told him that people with a visible migration background statistically face twice the difficulty in finding a job compared to others. “I will never forget this conversation” Kompany said, recalling the moment he made a decisive decision: “From now on, I will work twice as hard. Then I will be twice as good.