Tottenham star Lucas Moura: Playing football in the streets saved me from a criminal life in Sao Paulo

On a quiet corner of Ferry Lane Estate in Tottenham, Lucas Moura is discussing his escape from violence on the streets of Sao Paulo. The Spurs forward is here as part of a project run by the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation designed to use football to keep children on the straight and narrow - and Lucas knows all about the game’s ability to save.

Moura, 26, grew up in a deprived area of Brazil’s most dangerous city, which has long competed for the grizzly record of the highest murder-rate in South America. Football was his refuge.

“It was very difficult when I was young because there are problems with violence, gangs, guns, drugs - a criminal life,” he said.

“I had friends that choose a criminal life. Some of them are in prison and some of them are dead. They chose the bad way.

“I played a lot of football in the street. My dream was to become a footballer - that’s why I didn’t go to the bad way. I always believed I could realise my dream and give another life to my family. My parents showed me the good way. The education I had with them and my dream to become a footballer never let me go off the path. It’s impossible to imagine doing anything else because I always had in my head that I would be a footballer.”

Thanks to his talent, Lucas’s parents - formerly a hairdresser and a factory worker - and his three siblings have moved to a more prosperous part of Sao Paulo but he remains concerned about their safety.

It is after dark in Tottenham and the interview is taking place in the back seat of a parked car, after an obliging Lucas had finally escaped from the 50 or so children demanding autographs and selfies. He appears at ease here - something he is not when he returns home.

“Sao Paulo is worse now than 10 years ago - the violence is worse,” he said. “My parents and brothers don’t live in the same place but I have some friends and cousins who still live there. When I’m in Brazil and I go there to visit them, it can be scary. At night there are a lot of carjackings. The situation there is very difficult.”

“Of course, I think about it. My parents live in a good house now. But it’s Brazil, it’s Sao Paulo. When I’m here I’m always thinking about them because it’s very dangerous there. Here is so different - you can walk in the streets at night. It’s life. But I believe in God and my family’s protection. When I have a bad moment - for example the last six months in Paris, when I didn’t play - God was my structure.”

Those last six months at Paris Saint-Germain - when Lucas made just six brief cameos following the arrival of his friend Neymar in summer 2017 - persuaded him to join Spurs in a £24.5million deal in January.

Initially, Lucas swapped the bench at PSG for the bench at Tottenham, with Mauricio Pochettino using his signing sparingly in the second half of last season. The Spurs manager played down expectations around Lucas, who was one of Brazil’s most exciting wonderkids when he joined PSG from Sao Paulo for £38m in 2013.

“The first five months was to adapt to the new life, the new championship, the new coach, a new country, a new club,” Lucas said.

“Now I’ve done a pre-season with the team and I understand what the coach expects from me. Here the game is so dynamic, the intensity is so high. I hope I’m a little far from my best. I’m playing well but can do better.”

Pochettino’s lessons are working. Lucas has been Spurs’ most consistent performer this season and he has started all but one game — the 2-1 defeat by Inter Milan in the Champions League.

His form, including two goals in the landmark 3-0 win at Manchester United in August , earned his a recall to the Brazil squad last week for the first time in over two years — a decision that he feels justifies his move to London.

“It’s very good to be back in the national team. Of course, coming here to play in the Premier League was a good decision,” he said. “I had five very happy years in Paris, I won a lot of trophies, learned a lot of things and now is a new challenge. It’s good for me, not only as a footballer but as a person.

“London is an incredible city. The people are very nice. It’s a happy city with good Brazilian restaurants. It’s a good experience. I only need to say thanks to God. I had five years in Paris, an amazing city, and now London. Big clubs, big cities. It’s a gift from God.”

Lucas Moura was visiting Ferry Lane Estate to meet youngsters from Tottenham Hotspur Foundation’s Premier League Kicks programme.

For more information:tottenhamhotspur.com/the-club/foundation