Crawley Town's star striker explains his unusual rise from non-League to the EFL

Danilo Orsi never thought he was going to be a professional footballer.

The Crawley striker grew up in north London and played in non-League with Cockfosters while he was completing his A-Levels. He was at peace with balancing that semi-professional career with the IT job in the City he was preparing to start.

Until one phone call changed everything, that was.

"I got a call asking if I wanted to go out to America for six weeks and playing in a tournament out there for one of my old coaches," he tells Sky Sports.

"My mum was the one who pushed me and said, if I was going into work for the rest of my life, to go and experience it.

"I went out there, scored a few goals, won a few tournaments and one thing led to another - I ended up staying out there for three-and-a-half years!"

In the US, he studied a business management degree at - and played footballer for - Eastern Florida State College and spent time with Chivas USA's U19 and Fort Lauderdale Strikers' U23s.

Legendary Brazilian striker Ronaldo was part of the ownership group at the latter at the time, but though Orsi was not involved with him, he did encounter another former Brazil international.

"[Ex-Man Utd midfielder] Kleberson was in the first team at the time, so I had a bit of interaction with him, but there was a bit of a language barrier when we played.

"It was cool, 100 per cent, especially then when I wasn't thinking about having a career in football. To see him on a daily basis and what he was doing was a real eye-opener and I learned a lot from it.

"It just was a fantastic experience, not only on the pitch but off it as well. It helped me build as a character. I was 19 when I went out there, so it made me grow up a lot quicker and I made some friends for life."

Orsi