From Brazil's rainforest to Rio de Janeiro, an all-Indigenous soccer team debuts with victory

The Washington Times·May 3

From Brazil's rainforest to Rio de Janeiro, an all-Indigenous soccer team debuts with victory

MARICA, Brazil — When Sávio Conrado Mura left his Indigenous village of stilt houses located deep in the Amazon rainforest in early April, he departed with the hopes of representing his people as a professional soccer player and, maybe, one day playing for the Brazilian national team at the World Cup. Mura’s first step toward earning the chance to don the famous yellow jersey once worn by Pelé and so many other Brazilian soccer greats took place on Sunday in an empty stadium in Rio de Janeiro with a team exclusively made up of Indigenous players. The 21-year-old goalkeeper, who takes his last name from the Mura people of his birth, left his headdresses and bows behind to play for Originarios, a new soccer club in Rio’s fifth division that is mainly for players under the age of 23. He and 25 more youngsters from 13 native Brazilian groups have been getting ready by living and training in Marica, a city of 200,000 located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Rio. “I am already a role model for my community,” Mura told The Associated Press after a training session on Thursday. “If me playing in a World Cup is God’s