No more yo-yos
Brazil’s reputation as a footballing powerhouse is built on a collection of improbable success stories. Some of the game’s greatest talents – Pele, Romario, Garrincha, Socrates, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, to name just a few – honed their skills barefoot on the street or on wastelands of dirt and stone, with access to grass pitches severely limited.
Many superstars grew up in abject poverty. Rivaldo, for example, spent his young years in Encruzilhada, a violent and run - down favela in the city of Recife. As a child he was so malnourished that he lost several teeth and developed bowed legs. His fellow 2002 World Cup winner, Cafu, was raised in Jardim Irene, one of the
