Promise David had a five‑year plan. He would score bags of goals, earn a transfer to a top European league and play for Canada at the 2026 World Cup. There was just one problem: apart from his parents, teammates and coaches, no one in soccer seemed to know his name.
It was 2023, and the striker was scrapping for minutes in Estonia’s Meistriliiga – a league small enough that streaming services didn’t bother with its matches. He was 22 and already a football nomad. He had been cut from his hometown club’s academy. Passed over by NCAA college programs. Relegated to the reserve squad of almost every club for which he played.
