Early Life
Larsson was born in Helsingborg, Scania. His father, Francisco Rocha, is from Cape Verde, and his mother, Eva Larsson, is Swedish. His parents, who never married and split up when he was 12, decided that he should take his mother's surname because they felt it would make it easier for their son to be accepted in Sweden. He credits his father for his love of football. His father gave him a football when he was 16 months old and as a child he was able to practice with brothers and friends on a large field near his home in Helsingborg. He has said of his school years: "I experienced some racism, because back then it was unusual to have a black kid at school, I was one of the few. He watched UK league football on television and his parents gave him a video of Pelé's life story, both of which inspired him.
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Famous quotes related to early life:
“... goodness is of a modest nature, easily discouraged, and when much elbowed in early life by unabashed vices, is apt to retire into extreme privacy, so that it is more easily believed in by those who construct a selfish old gentleman theoretically, than by those who form the narrower judgments based on his personal acquaintance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)