One in a Million

Million in his his Glory days

Democratic Republic of Congo.-born Aussie Million Butshiire, now based in Germany, is chasing his dream and is prepared to do the hard work to make it come true. Read his story and you can't help but be impressed and inspired by his determination to make it as a professional footballer.

My older brother Jean Luc introduced me to football. I remember we had a ball made up of plastic bags and the theme was a one-on-one game with small goals made from each other's pairs of sandals... I played most of my youth football on the streets with kids

from my neighbourhood but my brother played a big part in the genesis of football in my life.

The desire and thirst to move overseas was mainly inspired by the lack of enough opportunity in the A-League. After a successful pre-season with Gareth Naven  ( Perth Glory youth coach ) in 2009, I made the first team short list at 17 years of age and had my debut 

against Adelaide United in a friendly and went on to play against Fulham and Wolves. Later during the season, the opportunities were limited but I had gained just enough exposure that it made my first trip to Germany possible.

In 2010 Duisburg invited me on a week trial during their pre-season and after seeing the facilities, assessing the possibilities and seeing the way young players were nourished I decided from that time on that I wanted to progress and continue my football aspirations on this side of the globe. That year I ended up signing with Honved in Budapest where I was supposed to be monitored and watched by Duisburg but due to certain contractual issues I moved on to another overwhelming experience in France with PSG reserves for 5 months.

After a short stay in Australia, my dear friend Julius Davies whom I played with at the National Training Centre in WA and also with the AUS U17 Qantas Joeys invited me to see him in Germany again and there I met the man who created an opportunity for 1860 to see me... Originally I was meant to stay on trial for a week but at the end of the week they requested I stay another week,  then the reserves coach and club agent made their decisions...

In the January window after a game with the U23 against the first team, I was endowed with a contract offer. Due to complications with my ITC (International Transfer Certificate) clearanceI signed a pre-contract but sadly missed the registration deadline... Apart from the lack of competitive football games and the language barrier I have loved my time here and have really improved my game on many platforms... Football here is like another religion, sometimes in

the 2Bundasliga you have teams who have 50 000 fans at home every game regardless of the weather conditions. The passion, the culture and the discipline of the game here are something I had never experienced before... 

Kenny Low, a man who played a massive part in my youth development and a very inspiring soul I look up to, always told me that football wasn't just what happened on the field, it's a way of living. I confirmed those lessons and came to truly appreciate what it meant in Germany. Being alone so far from home the discipline it requires and the mental strength could be the difference between performances. From nutrition to resting enough, recovering well and sleeping

right to just having equilibrium with concentration and mental stability. Punctuality and respect for teammates, understanding and taking on tactical information.

The most important thing for me is to re-establish myself in an environment where I will be competing in the near future and continue to enjoy my football at the same time...

I am comfortable and have set personal goals in the football capital (Europe). But I haven't closed the door to other possibilities such as going back home and the A-League...
My desire is to be the best player I can be as early as I can be and to have a career without major injuries as they have slowed me down on several occasions. The rest isreally bonus and rewarding honors to be honest. Honors like having represented Australia at youth level, I think those are the memories that shape the careers of footballers :)
I have been invited to a training camp next month with the national team of my country of birth and origin but my main focus right now is to invest all my efforts at club football and continue to enjoy football...

Million Butshiire