2003/11/10
Martyn Herman
A TEAM of London-based Brazilians are busy bringing their own brand of samba football to Docklands. Formed just seven months ago Brazilian Football Show S.C. are taking the Middlesex County League by storm, winning all six matches so far. Hardly surprising really as they are coached by Paulo Cezar, a former professional in Brazil who played for Cruzeiro and Romario’s club Fluminense. Paulo, who also played in China, has been a team mate of former national goalkeeper Taffarel, Bayern Munich’s Paulo Sergio and Denilson. Speaking to East End Life, Paulo said the club has a vision to reach the Ryman League and then the Conference and one day he hopes it will break into the Football League. It might sound a tall order, but the club, which trains at the John Orwell Sports Centre in Wapping and is sponsored by Uno Money Transfers, is deadly serious. While the squad is virtually all Brazilian at the moment, hence its 100 per cent record, Paulo says the goal is to create an English team schooled in the Brazilian style of play. "We don’t want to just be a team of Brazilians playing in England, we aim to expand," he said. "We have three of four English players in the team now, but hopefully this is going to increase. "We want to teach the Brazilian style of football and develop players here."
The club is endorsed by the Brazilian Football Federation
(CBF) and recently teamed up with the Brazil national team at Leicester City’s
stadium, where Brazil beat Jamaica 1-0 in a friendly. "We went up there to meet up with the squad,"
said Cezar. "We swapped ideas and spoke about the game. "They said we are like 'sons' to them and were very interested in what we
are doing here. It was a great weekend."
The next phase in the development of the club, which plays home matches at the
Terence McMillan Stadium in Newham, is to try and get into the Ryman League and
the world famous FA Cup.
"We have already had meetings about this," he said. "To get into
the FA Cup we would need better facilities and that is something we are looking
at"
Training schools
Young players in Docklands will also benefit from the south American influence
as the club is planning to run a series of training schools in Wapping and Mile
End in December or early next year.
Jorginho, who was part of the 1994 World Cup winning side, is expected to come
over and help out.
"Football here is very well organised, more than in Brazil," Paulo
told East End Life.
"We want to combine that organisation with the Brazilian philosophy of the
game which will benefit young players here.
"We are investing a lot into making this a success."
In the mean time they are concentrating on maintaining their 100 percent start
to the season.
"We were originally only supposed to be in the fourth division, but we have
jumped straight to the first," said Paulo. "We want to just keep
winning and to stay humble and to raise the profile of the club."
If you want to see some samba football without crossing the Atlantic, you can
see the Brazilian Football Show team in action against Bethnal Green at the
Terence McMillan Stadium on November 29.