Brazil, Suarez and childhood dreams: The summer "Uncle Albert" went to the World Cup
Walsall veteran and former Aston Villa winger Albert Adomah had spent his childhood idolizing Brazilian footballing greats Ronaldinho and Co.
He had made his debut against the legendary Selecao in September 2011 where he was able to share the pitch with his boyhood idol.
In 2014, he was on the plane to the home of the record five-time world champions for his World Cup bow with Ghana.
"Playing for your national team is a surreal moment. You've made your family proud and that is the only expression I can use to describe it," Adomah recalled.
"It's strange because I made my debut against Brazil. I was playing against the likes of Ronaldinho, Alex Pato, young Neymar and Marcelo.
Playing for Ghana was 'surreal' - Adomah
"Players that I looked up to. I used to pretend being Ronaldinho when I was practicing my skills and suddenly I was making my debut next to him."
Adomah shared a changing room with a host of high-profile names such as Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari, Kevin Prince-Boateng and Asamoah Gyan.
He was introduced for the closing stages of the Black Stars' 2-1 defeat against the USA in front of nearly 40,000 inside the Arena das Dunas.
It was a lifelong dream achieve, even if he didn't feature in the final two group games against eventual champions Germany and Portugal.
Even the likes of George Weah, George Best, Eric Cantona and Ryan Giggs never played in a World Cup - a fact that Adomah was eager to point out.
"Big, big names. It was like yes, I've arrived. I was the youngster then at the time but I suddenly realised, wow I'm actually representing the national team at the World Cup," he continued.
"There are so many greats in the past that never went to a World Cup like Ryan Giggs and other big names.
"Now Uncle Albert has been to the World Cup. So yes, it was a really proud moment.
"To go to the World Cup in Brazil was crazy. I played one of the games against USA.
"We lost but I still got a 15-minute appearance in the World Cup which is a dream for any player."
The story was made all the more remarkable considering Adomah was playing for Barnet in League Two when Ghana had last played on the biggest stage in international football four years earlier.
Their 2010 quarter-final exit went down in football folklore when Luis Suarez handled Dominic Adiyah's goal-bounded header in the last-minute of extra-time.
Gyan crashed the resulting spot-kick against the crossbar and Ghana were denied a place in the semi-finals in an agonising penalty shoot-out defeat.
It remains one of the most controversial moments in World Cup history, and according to Adomah, he has still not been forgiven in Ghana.
"No I could never have imagined. I was at home cheering and when Suarez handballed it on the line, I guess he was a hero in Uruguay, but he is hated in Ghana.
"That's one person that is not welcome to go back to Ghana. He will definitely never visit there.
"If he is then probably in a wheelchair when he is older [he jokes]. That might be the only time they show him remorse."
Comment Guidelines
Iconic Media encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.