Sweden midfielder Simon Tibbling credits football career to Pokemon

Sweden midfielder Simon Tibbling, currently in Brazil for Rio 2016, revealed the motivation behind his career as a soccer player was born of a bribe and an obsession with Pokemon.

Tibbling, whose Sweden team was eliminated from Rio 2016 after finishing last in Group B, currently plies his trade at the club level with FC Groningen in the Dutch first division, but if not for the allure of Nintendo's incredibly popular Pokemon franchise, he might not be a professional soccer player today.

"I started playing football as a 6-year-old but I did not enjoy it and after the first session I wanted to leave and not return," Tribbling said, as quoted by Marca.

"My mother wanted to ensure I continued, so she proposed a deal that if I kept going she would buy me two packets of Pokemon cards each time

"At the time, my life had been taken over by Pokemon so it sounded like a good deal to me!"

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