Brazilian Lais Araujo set for Adelaide United’s W-League season-opener after being spotted playing barefoot soccer in a favela
A Pele-backed charity spotted her talent while she played in one of Brazil’s most dangerous favelas. Now Adelaide United recruit Lais Araujo is ready to bring her flair to the W-League.
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Lais Araujo was just 12 when a charity backed by soccer legend Pele discovered her playing barefoot games on a patch of dirt in one of Brazil’s most dangerous favelas.
Born in Salvador in the nation’s northeast, the playmaker was the only girl taking on the boys in small-sided matches that would stretch into the night in Sao Marcos neighbourhood.
Araujo avoided the drug trafficking and gang-related crime that surrounded her daily, to launch a football adventure which had already taken her to the US, Norway and a World Cup.
Now the Adelaide United recruit was set to bring her flair and passion to the W-League.
“Growing up (in Sao Marcos) it was dangerous,” Araujo, 23, recalled.
“There was a lot of trafficking and drugs, and there was police coming all the time.
“We knew there was danger, but we just played football in the street the whole day.
“It was a bit rough, but if it wasn’t the way it was, I wouldn’t be the way I am.
“It shapes you.”
Araujo was due to make her Reds debut in Thursday night’s season-opener away to Western Sydney Wanderers, just four days after arriving in SA.
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Marconi Stadium was a world away from the challenges of her upbringing, as the second-youngest of six sisters in an area with one of the country’s highest homicide rates.
Aged 14, Araujo played women’s football in senior regional competitions just to earn money to support her family.
But two years earlier, a chance visit to Sao Marcos by US-based Brazilian youth coach Wilson Egidio with the Favela Project changed the course of her life.
“They liked me and remembered me because I was the only girl playing with the boys,” said Araujo of the program, supported by three-time World Cup winner Pele whom she had met.
“But it was always really difficult because there was six of us (children) and it was only my Dad working at the time.
“I knew I had to take it (soccer) seriously because it’s not only about my dreams and what I want to become any more, now it’s providing for my family as well.
“There are favelas because the government didn’t provide enough for everybody and the gaps just keep getting bigger and bigger.”
Egidio, a friend of Pele who also played for his ex-club Santos, stayed in touch with Araujo via Facebook and later helped her land a scholarship at ASC junior college in New York.
It helped the attacking midfielder earn a call-up for the 2016 under-20 World Cup in Papua New Guinea, where she played every game in Brazil’s run to the quarter-final.
Araujo, who learnt English from scratch aged 18, then transferred to the University of Florida, securing All Southeastern Conference selection and graduating with a criminology degree.
She has also starred in a documentary made by Pele’s daughter, Kely Nascimento-Deluca, called Warriors of a Beautiful Game, which is due for release next year.
“The distance and missing the family is hard,” said Araujo, who had not seen her family in Brazil for nearly three years.
“But as soon as my agent told me about it (the Reds’ interest) I was delighted and really excited.
“I’ve heard so many good things about the league and how competitive it is.
“I grew up with a lot of creativity in my game, but that’s just how it is in Brazil – you have to play to have fun.
“Hopefully I get to show some of my skills here and score some goals as well.”
Araujo spent this year playing in the Norwegian top flight and scored twice in 21 games to help Arna-Bjornar avoid relegation.
She hoped to fire Adelaide’s quest for a maiden finals appearance, after the club missed the top-four by one point last summer.
“The energy is good and people are happy.
“Hopefully everything is going to click inside the field as well and everyone fights for each other and we get the results step-by-step.”