Antonio: My brother saved me from joining gangs

Antonio's early season form earned him his first call-up to the England national team for Sam Allardyce's first England squad for their game against Slovakia. While the 26-year-old didn't play in that match, he is likely to be a regular fixture in future squads under Allardyce if he continues his current form.

However, while Antonio is joint-top of the goalscoring charts in England's top-flight with the likes of Sergio Aguero and Diego Costa, he could be leading a rather different lifestyle if it wasn't for his brother.

Growing up in south London, Antonio could have ended up joining local gangs 'Stick 'Em Up Kidz' (SUK) and 'Terror Zone' (TZ), but he was discouraged by his brother.

"In Earlsfield, I was slightly out of it but obviously I had friends who were in SUK, I had friends who were in TZ," the Hammer told the 'Daily Mail'. "But my brother, John, who was two years older, never got into any gangs or anything. He said: 'Why would you join a gang and have friends just from one gang when you could have friends all over?'"

Unfortunately for one of Antonio's friends, Eugene Attram, joining a gang ultimately cost him his life.

"One of my good friends, Eugene, who used to play football for Wandle Wanderers with me, went from Clapham Junction with SUK to Mitcham. I don't know why they went, but they ended up going there. He got stabbed to death," Antonio said.

It's fair to say that the winger has enjoyed a difficult career on the field too. He started his career at non-league Tooting and Mitcham, where he joined Reading. Things didn't go so smoothly for him, and he spoke of how he stood out for the wrong reasons at first.

"I had played non-League football, I was used to trapping the ball and then getting my head up and passing it,' he told the 'Daily Mail'. "In training at Reading, every time - bang, the ball was gone.

"I was one of those guys in training where the team would say: 'We don't want him with us! He just loses the ball every time!'"

He failed to nail down a regular place in the Reading team and ended up spending time out on loan at Chetenham, Colchester and Sheffield Wednesday. It was only at the latter where his career started to take off.

From Wednesday, he moved to Nottingham Forest where he showed his ability in England's second tier, prompting West Ham to pay £7m for his services.

Antonio didn't struggle with the step up and had an impressive first season with the Hammers, scoring 13 goals in 38 games for Bilic's side in all competitions.

The former Tooting and Mitcham man appears to be avoiding any case of 'second season syndrome' in East London having scored five goals already, and few would bet against him gaining his first England cap in the near future.