Sao Paulo is Brazil’s biggest talent factory and now Europe wants to tap into the varzea culture that helps create wonderkids | Football news

What makes football in Sao Paulo special? It’s a question the city’s biggest football clubs have been asking themselves almost as much as those visiting Europe. By embracing the past, the aim is to ensure that they continue to create talent in the future.

For context, Sao Paulo and nearby Santos have produced more World Cup winners than any other team in Brazil, while Sao Paulo and rivals Palmeiras boast being the only teams to have provided a player to each of Brazil’s five World Cup-winning teams.

In the Brazilian team that will play in this tournament, goalkeeper Ederson and defensive star Gabriel and Marquinhos are all from Sao Paulo. Meanwhile, Neymar, Casemiro, Alex Sandro and Gabriel Martinelli were also born in the greater Sao Paulo area.

Others have been drawn to the city in search of greater opportunities. Endrick, for example, the Real Madrid striker, was born in Brasilia but moved to Sao Paulo as a boy. Palmeiras gave his father Douglas a job to help him move to Goias.

And those are Brazilian internationals. Sao Paulo’s Cacau, who won the Bundesliga with Stuttgart, scored Germany’s goal in the 2010 World Cup winner. “He has a big chance in Sao Paulo,” Cacau said Sky Sports.

“In Sao Paulo you have many clubs. This is the economic center of Brazil. And you have a poor side but also a very rich side.” That combination of numbers combined with resources and talent development programs may be Sao Paulo’s secret sauce.

Speaking to Cafu, who won the Copa Libertadores twice with Sao Paulo and the man who last lifted Brazil’s World Cup in 2002, he believes this emphasis on youth development could be the key to everything. “Maybe that’s the answer,” he said Sky Sports.

“Maybe it’s because Sao Paulo comes from a culture that gives preference to the youth groups.” But given the size of Sao Paulo – the state’s population is estimated at 46 million – there is part of this just a numbers game.

Juninho, a Middlesbrough legend, was born in Sao Paulo before becoming a star in Europe and a World Cup winner with Brazil. You put spatial scale into context. “Sao Paulo is much bigger than most other countries,” he said Sky Sports.

“For people to understand, it’s the number of people who live in Sao Paulo. Sao Paulo has a federation that can be equal to the FA in England.” And most importantly, they know what they are doing. “It’s very well managed and very talented,” added Juninho.

“We have Reinaldo, the president, and we have Mauro Silva, the idol of Spanish football during his time with Deportivo La Coruna. [and a World Cup winner with Brazil in 1994]. He has been vice president for many years. They did an excellent job.

“The teams in Sao Paulo, not only at the top level, but also in the second and third division, have good facilities and train good players. Therefore, Sao Paulo as a region has the conditions for Sao Paulo football to be the best in the country in terms of talent.

“That’s why many athletes, players from the north and northeast want to come to Sao Paulo because of the structure and visibility. It’s a region that trains many players because of the ability of the federation and clubs. I think it’s at a high level.

“Everything, from the beginning of their training until the player becomes a professional, the whole structure, that’s what makes the country attractive to players. It’s hard for them to find that structure in other states. Yes, it’s there, but it’s a mix.”

A bit of the melting pot of Brazilian culture exists in microcosm in Sao Paulo’s soccer program. Players from the city are strengthened by boys and girls who travel from rural areas and small towns to the north to seek their fortune.

“Players from the north and northeast bring the essence of Brazilian football. We see the difference in them. They are very respectful, they are responsible in a good way and we need that. So, they come to São Paulo and we give them good treatment.”

European clubs are determined to embody what makes Sao Paulo unique. Cacau is now an ambassador for Stuttgart and recently accompanied the club’s academy players on a trip to his old hometown. It was an education for them – and special for him.

“As a Brazilian, it was amazing. Because it was the club of my heart and my city. To see the Stuttgart players and the Brazilian kids together. From a sporting point of view, it was a great thing for the players because the Brazilians play a different style.

“So, that was a great experience for them. But for me the best moment was outside the field. To see around Sao Paulo, to see the community projects, to see the favelas. This experience I think will be with them for a long time, a great experience for the boys.”

The idea that modern football with its high-level academies has lost what made the players great is convincing, especially in Brazil where there are complaints that the five-time world champions may not be what they were in the world.

There is love in those fields of dirt where skills were honed. So much so that Palmeiras chose to return them to their academy, explaining that they want their players to return to their roots of street football, to accept the kick over the pass.

There is evidence that it has worked. Estevao only misses the World Cup through injury, with the Palmeiras graduate now at Chelsea joining former team-mate Endrick in making his Brazil debut aged just 17.

Many clubs would like to bring this Sao Paulo swagger back to their players. Arsenal took it a step further by hosting the eight-a-side tournament in the city, offering a trip to London for the winners to showcase their talent in conjunction with the Dirt is Good campaign.

Along with Gabriel and Martinelli, Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus also hails from Sao Paulo. There were emotional scenes when the three players watched a video of the Varzenal Cup – a game of the famous varzea game played in temporary public arenas.

Arsenal legends Ian Wright and Gilberto Silva also visited Sao Paulo in February to see the games in action and were impressed that the Brazilians were much better at tackling the ball when the bounce was unexpected. They were used to it.

Finding that balance between providing the resources to develop talent while maintaining the things that helped create it in the first place is tricky. But given its culture and traditions, its resources both human and financial, Sao Paulo will always be a soccer center.