Kenya's national football team may not have made it to the World Cup Finals in Brazil -- but one man will be there for his African nation. Stepping into the role of representing Kenya is Aden Marwa, the country's first linesman to officiate at the beautiful game's biggest event. Football is my life, football has made my life change a big deal, Marwa tells CNN. Like many a young boy, Marwa became obsessed with football, often walking vast distances so he could get to a TV to watch a match. Yet despite his passion for the game, he wanted nothing to do with refereeing and for good reason. Those times it was hard because a match would hardly finish without a referee being beaten, he explains. The fans were rowdy and you know, the facilities were not very good. You were playing in open fields so the referee could be attacked anytime so when I could see that as a young boy, I did n't love it. So I was scared. However, by the time Marwa became a linesman in 1998 at the age of 21, the game had changed dramatically as more resources and education had been funneled into the sport. Once you decide you want to become a football referee there are three pillars. One is your medical fitness, two is your physical fitness and then three, the technical fitness, so these can not be compromised. By 2006, the ambitious referee got his big break refereeing a game in the Kenyan Premier League