Cafu: ‘There’s no greater feeling in football than lifting that trophy’

22-Jun-2022 16:00:22 | The Guardian

The two-time World Cup winner on his social action project, the rise of Vinicius Junior and how Brazil will fare in Qatar

By Josué Seixas for Yellow and Green Football

Cafu has just recorded a video message for some children in the north east of Brazil. “I can see myself in these children,” he says. “I’m a poor boy who faced a lot of adversity to be here, talking to you, with three consecutive World Cup finals and two titles.” He is in the city of Maceió, preparing to take a three-hour bus trip into the arid countryside as part of his involvement in the Cafuzinhos do Sertão social action project.

“When I go there, I play with them barefoot, so they can see that we are all equal. When I first thought of this project, I wanted to do it in a place where nobody goes. There’s a high percentage of malnutrition and I feel like it’s our main goal to give them hope, to make these children believe they can achieve more.”