Brazil win Street Child World Cup (girls’ tournament, Rio de Janeiro)

A news item reporting that a team of Brazilian girls from the Penha favela in Rio de Janeiro were crowned champions in their home city, beating the Philippines in the girls’ tournament of the ten-day Street Child World Cup. The sides met at Fluminense’s stadium for a tense final in which both struggled to create chances, a first-half goal proving enough for the Brazilian teenagers. Jessica, a 17-year-old coach for Team Brazil, said the hardest part of the week was the final, not because of the game but because of the friendship her girls had formed with their opponents. The players, aged 13 to 17, come from the Favela St programme, which recruits ex-drug traffickers to coach youngsters in areas of high drug and gang violence, while the Philippine side was organised by the Fairplay for All Foundation.