Let’s start at the beginning...born Franck Henry Pierre Ribéry on April 7 1983. He was born in Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais, France. He was raised in a low income neighborhood of the city, never very wealthy growing up. When he was two years old, tragedy struck. He and his family were in a car accident. They crashed into a lorry. He suffered serious facial injuries as a result, and he received more than a hundred stitches. These stitches left two massive gashes on Franck’s face. The scars to his face didn't stop Franck from training hard and playing a lot of soccer throughout his childhood, mainly at FC Conti de Boulogne-sur-Mer.

In 1996, aged 13, he joined a Lille’s youth team, and excelled athletically. Franck had academic and behavioral problems, so the club released him. He said he wasn’t released for these issues, he said he was released for being “too small.” After leaving Lille, he joined US Boulogne, who are in the fourth division of the French leagues, after a year in the reserves, he was promoted to the team. He only played in four games in his debut season.

In his second season, he played 25 games, and notched five goals. He was then transferred to a higher ranked team, in the third division, Olympique Alès. Franck played 18 games here, and scored one goal.He was then transferred to a team in the highest division of French soccer, Ligue 1. This team was Metz. The fans there liked his style, and some compared him to former Metz players. He played well at Metz, but was soon transferred to Galatasary, in Turkey, with whom he won the Turkish cup. 

He was again transferred to Marseille, another team in Ligue 1. Franck really made a name for himself at Marseille, notching goals in just about every game. In 2007, after years of struggle, and hard work, he was awarded, the French Player of the Year Award. From 2008 onward, Franck has been playing for Bayern Munich, and has become a commonplace name--scoring goals, and enjoying success.

 His story should be motivation to everyone, that no matter what type of setbacks you endure, you can pull through them if you work hard enough.