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'I needed ID to prove my age!' - Aston Villa star Benteke describes youth struggles
Nov 14, 2012 12:55:00 PM
The £7.5 million summer signing was so tall as a youngster that opposition teams were suspicious of how old he really was - so he ended up having to carry identification to games
Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke has revealed he used to have to show opposition teams his ID because they thought the forward was too tall to be playing in the correct age group.The 6ft 3in Belgian summer signing has scored twice for the Villans this season in the Premier League as well as two goals in the Capital One Cup, and displayed impressive strength and pace in the 3-2 home defeat to Manchester United, setting up Andreas Weimann's opener.
However, football was not as easy as a youth as it is is now for Benteke, who has revealed due to his imposing stature, other sides became suspicious of his real age when coming up against him.
"I used to score lots of goals but that wasn't surprising because I was taller than everybody else," he told reporters.
"All I ever wanted to do was be a striker. I grew very quickly but it sometimes posed a problem.
"When we played against other clubs I often had to show my identity card because they didn't believe my age! They thought I was older than I actually was."
The striker hit 19 goals in 37 appearances for Genk last season, leading to Paul Lambert's interest in the front man.
The £7.5 million Belgian has since taken Darren Bent's place in the side, and the Midlands club-record signing has been linked with a move away in January following Benteke's fine form.
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