“There is a saying in Brazil that a great footballer is born here every day. A stroll along Rio’s breathtaking beaches is enough to show you why they believe that. As far as the eye can see, footballs dance in the evening air, propelled by one deft touch after another. Alongside the sun-worshippers, towel hawkers, muscle-men and bar-crawlers are boys and girls, men and women, repeating skills and drills, honing their feel for the football, hour after hour.” BBC (Video)

The Powerful Throat is giving favelas a World Cup voice in Brazil
“There’s a little football pitch up on the fifth station of the Santa Marta morro, in the Botafogo neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro, where a group of Brazilian children who live in the favela are playing against some visiting Argentinian youths. The local kids hold a white ball, worn and battered, and they have challenged the Argentinians, saying if they win they will take their Fifa Brazuca football as the prize. The midday sun shines on the dry top of the morro, where the view of Christ the Redeemer on a nearby mountain top, and the undulating bays of Rio flanked by hills, literally stuns – can such beauty be humanly possible?” Guardian