Every year since Jeffrey Sarpong was seven he's been told he has something to prove.
Expectations have been placed on him since the day in 1995 when he was scouted kicking a football about in Abcoude, on the outskirts of the Dutch capital Amsterdam, by the world-leading Ajax Football Academy.
The academy has moulded football greats such as Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp and Wesley Sneijder. Applications from aspiring footballers are not sought, you have to be invited.
At the end of every year for the next decade Sarpong would be assessed to see if he was still good enough to stay in the academy - Ajax's "tough love" approach to sculpting world-beaters.
He passed every year, but surely that was too much pressure to be under from such a young age?
"Yes and no, of course it's a big club and you're expected to win even when you're young, but on the other hand you're still a young kid so they teach you to enjoy the game and to just have fun," he said this week after signing a two-year deal at the Wellington Phoenix.
At 17, he was the one of the hottest young prospects in world football. The reigning English Premier League champions, Chelsea, came calling with Roman Abramovich's millions, but Sarpong sent them packing.
"I was too young to go to Chelsea and I had a better chance of playing at Ajax than Chelsea. Other teams were chasing me as well, but I already made my mind up on Ajax."
In his first season in the Ajax first-team he played 10 games under manager Danny Blind, a return he was happy with as an eager 18-year-old.
But while Sarpong's first 10 years in football had been fun, he was about to get a harsh lesson in the realities of professional football over the next decade, where not everyone gets to realise their dreams.
He did not play a single match in the 2006–07 season, in what was a dark time in the Ajax's history where the 33-time Dutch champions would go seven years without a title.
Sarpong had five managers in five years, including Dutch legend Marco van Basten - a frustrating attrition rate for a young player trying to get a decent first-team run.
"I had a lot of different managers - almost every season I had a new manager - and you always had to prove yourself.
"Every manager had his own way of seeing things. In that sense, yes it was [frustrating], you have a dream of playing more games, but on the other hand it's always good to be in the first-team and train and play as much as you can."
He went out on loan to NEC but came back to find yet another new manager in Martin Jol and decided it was time to go.
The season after he left the club, Ajax had a major clearout, installing Frank de Boer as manager and winning four consecutive league titles on the back of de Boer's willingness to play young academy players.
Sarpong left at just the wrong time and would suffer through three frustrating years at Real Socieadad in the Spanish La Liga.
He went on loan two more times before making a permanent move back to Holland with NAC Breda, playing in the first-team over the past two seasons but left when they were relegated in May.
Three months of trials and offering himself to clubs in Spain, Italy, England and Australia ended this week when he signed with the Phoenix.
Game time was a major factor in rebuffing advances from European clubs, as was having a manager in Ernie Merrick who believed in him.
A chat with his friend, fellow Ajax academy alumni and current Phoenix midfielder, Roly Bonevacia, gave him the final push to make the move.
"Roly said it was a good team with good players and a manager who wants to play attacking football and a team with good potential."
Sarpong loves to shoot from distance and take free-kicks, so will need to have another chat with Bonevacia, who is the Phoenix's incumbent free-kick taker.
"I'm going to throw Roly away," he said with a laugh.
"But actually he scored a beautiful goal last season, so I think whoever is best in the game will get the opportunity."
His transition from number 10 or winger to a goal-scoring striker will not come easy, especially seeing as though he's never been asked to finish one on one in the past.
"I've not really been put in that position, I'm normally the one who puts the player in that position, but now I'll be expected to get those balls.
"But because of my attacking ability and my pace and skills [Merrick] thinks I can make much more out of that and turn me into a deadly offensive player."
While he couldn't attain his dream of winning titles for Ajax, he hopes to help the Phoenix achieve their dream of winning their first A-League title.
"I'd love to become champions for the team, that would be terrific and my main goal is to make that possible.
"Anything is possible so why not believe it and dream it?"
He is a chance to take the first step on that path by coming off the bench for the Phoenix against a Capital Football select team at Weka Park in Kapiti on Sunday.