FEBRUARY 25 will always be remembered as the date Marcus Rashford announced himself to the world.
The Man Utd ace netted a brace for the Red Devils as a fresh-faced 18-year-old making his debut, and has barely looked back since.
But on that evening at Old Trafford, another young talent also showed he had the ability to reach the very highest level.
Winger Pione Sisto had netted a week earlier as FC Midtjylland took a 2-1 lead into the second leg.
And he brought the Danish side to the brink of qualification when he scored a stunning solo goal by beating Daley Blind and makeshift centre-back Michael Carrick all ends up.
Rashford’s brace then turned the game on its head as Man Utd ran out 5-1 winners on the night.
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But La Liga side Celta Vigo had seen enough of Sisto to complete a £4.4m deal to sign him.
With Celta having a proven track record of bringing through Scandinavian players, the future looked made for Sisto.
And in his first season he helped the Galicians reach the Europa League semi-final, where they were narrowly beaten on aggregate by Jose Mourinho’s Man Utd.
International call-ups would follow with Denmark, but that was where things would start to go wrong.
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Sisto claimed he was “the most hated person in Denmark” following his performances at the 2018 World Cup, drawing further criticism from the media.
But things would take a stranger turn a year later when Sisto decided to go on a fruit-only diet to explore “his subconscious mind”.
In a video he posted on a special Instagram account, he said that the 21-day diet had made him “a little crazy”.
He said: “I did break the fast, because it got really intense.
“The cleansing part of it, the detox part, really started to show up. What happened was I was diving deeper into my subconscious mind.
“Everything that you see, touch, smell, taste, all gets stored in the subconscious mind.
“In order to see what happens in the subconscious mind, it can be done by fasting.
“And what happened to me was I started to see what was really going on and I lost control.
“I really did. I lost control of all the thoughts and all the emotion that started to show up and I started going a little bit crazy, honestly.”
Sisto then explained his theory to hopeful footballers that while their conscious mind may have the desire to become professionals, it is only the subconscious mind that can make the ambition a reality.
He added: “The subconscious mind is darkness. It’s pure darkness.”
The fruit-only diet would leave Sisto too weak to train with Celta in the middle of a relegation battle.
Matters were then compounded when he drove over 1800 miles back to Denmark during lockdown in 2020, leading to a club record £53,000 fine from Celta and his sale back the following summer.
Sisto, who was born in Uganda to South Sudanese parents, would also reveal in May that year that he was subjected to racist abuse following the 2018 World Cup.
Midtjylland would beat FC Copenhagen in a dramatic £2.65m battle as they lured the winger back to the club where it all began.
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Upon rejoining them, Sisto said: “It was my heart. My heart suddenly chose to go to FC Midtjylland. I found that it has always been my wish, but sometimes one gets tested.”
He added that he was “a fan of intelligence” and “there will always be pressure when you are Pione”.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
