Brazilian World Cup legend Roberto Carlos scores penalty for Shropshire Sunday league pub team

ITV News Central Reporter Callum Watkinson reports on the footballing legend Roberto Carlos playing for a Sunday football league club.

Roberto Carlos only played nine minutes for Bull in the Barne United - the pub team from Shropshire who won him for a game in an online raffle - but it was nine minutes the men on the pitch with him will never forget. 

Callum Bebb - who won man of the match after the clash with Harlescott Rangers - said even though Carlos wasn’t on the pitch for long the few touches the Brazilian had were world class. 

"I didn’t know I was playing a one-two with him," he said.

"But I passed the ball in and he did a little flick and I was like - I wasn’t even on that same level. It was exceptional."

For Ryan Kenny - who scored first for Harlescott Rangers - it will always be the day he took the ball from a World Cup winner, after he left Carlos standing with a precision tackle. 

"It’s just like any other day," joked Kenny, before adding: "No, he played well. It was good - I just took the challenge and rode it out."

Carlos came on after about half an hour when his side was two nil down, but when the players returned to the pitch after half time he was notable by his absence. 

"It’s age," said Carlos - who turns 50 next year - with a laugh after the game. “I have run a lot in my lifetime and there arrives a time when the body just doesn’t work the way it used to. But I couldn’t not be here.”

The real purpose of the online raffle that brought him to Shropshire was to raise money for Football Beyond Borders, a charity that seeks to re-engage disadvantaged young people with school through football. 

And the legendary left back was wholesome in his praise of grassroots football. 

"I started like this," he said, gesturing to the muddy pitch at Hanwood recreation centre where he had just played. 

"I didn’t start at Palmeiras! I started at a little club like this. I had the opportunity that someone saw me and I had the chance to go on and do great things - but it all starts here."

After the Bulls were awarded a penalty in the dying minutes of the game, Carlos returned to the pitch to take the spot kick, and scored. 

It ended 3-4 to Rangers - but grassroots football was the real winner.