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FourFourTwo
FourFourTwo
Sport
Joe Mewis

‘Moving into Sao Paulo club accommodation at 12 meant one less mouth for my parents to feed. I’ll always be grateful’ Denilson opens up on his humble beginnings

ULSAN, SOUTH KOREA - JUNE 03: WM 2002 in JAPAN und KOREA, Ulsan; GRUPPE C/BRASILIEN - TUERKEI (BRA - TUR) 2:1; Fatih AKYEL/TUR, DENILSON/BRA (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Bongarts/Getty Images).

The history of South American football is packed with players who dragged themselves up from the most humble of beginnings and played their way out of poverty and onto the world stage.

Former Brazil winger Denilson is no different, with his journey from the dusty pitches of Diadema to becoming the world’s most expensive player, a classic of the genre.

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