Since bursting onto the scene in 2004, Benoît Assou-Ekotto’s assured performances at left-back have installed him as Lens’ most consistent defender - and despite his young age his is one of the first names on Coach Francis Gillot’s team sheets.

Not bad for someone who never really liked football, and only considered it as a career after his brother told him he could become wildly rich.

Burning desire and raw talent may be the foundations for most professional footballers, but for Assou-Ekotto, working hard, staying loyal and listening to advice – particularly from your brother – is the way to get ahead in this job.

Having joined Lens as a 10 year-old, following in the footsteps of his older brother Matthieu, Benoît Assou-Ekotto finally got a chance in Les Sang et Or’s first team when regular left-back Lachor was injured early in the 2004/05 season. However, if Benoît had had his own way, he’d be somewhere else doing… something else.

“At 14 I went through a bad run with injuries and all I wanted to do was throw in the towel and get out of Lens,” he said. “But Matthieu persuaded me to stay and stick it out, and I’m glad I did. Lens is my team and my home.”

The next defining moment in Assou-Ekotto’s career came just 12 months later playing against Paris Saint-Germain in the Under-15s. “I had replaced the left-back midway through the match after he’d been sent off,” he says. “The Coach continued to play me there and after a few games I was going to go and tell him that my position was back in midfield but my brother talked me out of it. He said: ‘You can’t find good left-backs on every street corner.’”

Until 2004, Assou-Ekotto’s progress had been steady, if unspectacular, but his performances on the left of Lens’ defence, particularly since Gillot took over in February 2005, could not have gone unnoticed any longer. In February, Cameroon captain and former Lens defender Rigobert Song paid the Assou-Ekotto family a visit and sounded out Benoît as to wearing the colours of the Indomitable Lions at next year's World Cup.

After another eye-catching game in Lens’ 2-0 victory over PSG soon after, Cameroon Coach Artur Jorge, made the official proposal but while Assou-Ekotto refused to accept the call-up due to personal reasons, he has vowed to wear the colours of his parents birth country - if he gets another chance.

“I spoke to one of Artur Jorge’s assistants and Rigobert and explained that it was a personal problem that needed sorting out and they understood. As far as I’m concerned my choice is made, it’s Cameroon for me.”

For someone who doesn’t really like football, he really is very good.