JAMAL LEWIS has been told to “embrace” life at Sao Paulo by the first Englishman to ever play pro in Brazil.
Although he is unlikely to have to share a bar of soap with 30 others or dodge the bodily fluids on the team bus like Seth Burkett did.
Eyebrows were raised this week when Northern Ireland international Lewis, 26, left Newcastle to join the three-time Copa Libertadores winners on loan.
The full-back will become the first British-born player to represent Sao Paulo – although he is not the first to make the bold move to South America.
Now author and Futsal ace Burkett was playing for non-league Stamford after being released by Peterborough when his remarkable opportunity arrived.
And that led to him making the move at the age of 18 to fifth tier Sorriso Esporte Club, located in the central state of Mato Grosso.
“Growing up I idolised Roberto Carlos as I was a left-back and Ronaldo R9 and then as a teenager Ronaldinho, I always loved Brazil,” he told SunSport.
It all started when a mysterious man, who turned out to be Anderson Da Silva and the agent of ex-Arsenal midfielder Denilson, started turning up to watch Stamford play.
He ended up bringing a couple of Brazilians over to play for the Lincolnshire-based outfit and then organised for them to head to South America to take part in a youth tournament in the summer of 2009.
And that was when everything changed for Burkett, who said: “Our first game was against the Brazilian youth team, which had Alisson in goal and Philippe Coutinho in the squad.
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“Anderson then got some of us to train with a team out there called Vitoria, and then their left-back had got called up for international duty and they needed someone to fill in for a friendly and I got asked to play.
“I did and that’s where the opportunity to go back came from.”
Sorriso’s coach had been working with the Stamford boys that July at the tournament, and he was the one that invited Burkett back, an offer he was finally able to take up after getting past the “murky world of visas and work permits” in January 2010.
The move quickly caught the imagination of the Brazilian media as Burkett became something of a celebrity but he failed to play a single minute, despite the attention, at the prestigious Copa Sao Paulo de Futebol Junior tournament a month after his arrival.
He said: “The owner was so angry that the coach hadn’t played me in the tournament he sacked him and gave me a contract for the professional team.
“I was nowhere near the best player in the youth team, it was purely because of the media attention, but the first-team was brilliant to be part of.”
Life there was far from glitz and glamour as he lived with almost 30 other youngsters in a converted garage with three rooms of bunk beds and one open, communal concrete shower, toilet cubicles with no doors and bars on the window.
But Burkett insists that he would not change a single thing, saying: “It was horrible but that is very much the way in Brazil. They try to encourage youngsters to be better themselves.
“There were just body fluids everywhere, it was disgusting but it brought us all much closer together.
“Even though I couldn’t speak the language, they were so inclusive and made it so easy for me.
“They liked to sneak girls on to the team bus back seat, then they would reenact what they did with them.
“Then, after the first couple of weeks, I had really bad spots and they started calling me Shrek.
“There was one guy who spoke English but he didn’t live with us but came back one day and saw me washing my face with the one bar of soap. He then shouted ‘Oh no, no! This soap is what the guys use to wash their a***holes with.”
Things got slightly better after his pro deal when he moved to a hotel to live in chalets, although they also had six people living in each one.
On the pitch, Burkett’s only competitive action came as a sub in a cup game, but he loved every second of it – especially playing with captain Capone de Oliviera, a Uefa Cup winner with Galatasaray.
He said: “I only played just over ten minutes but it was amazing to get that experience.”
Eventually, after being misinformed about being on a two-year contract and no reserve team to give him game time, Burkett returned to England later that year to start university while still playing semi-pro.
He went on to enjoy success by writing a book, a passion installed in him by his nan who was an author, called The Boy in Brazil about his time there.
And having also enjoyed a spell playing pro in Sri Lanka, he just released the first book in his Football GOATS series.
Even though he is now enjoying success with a pen in his hand, he revealed that he was more than a little envious when hearing about Lewis’ move to Sao Paulo.
“I would just say to Jamal that it will be brilliant,” added Burkett.
“Embrace the culture, life is so different over there bit it’s amazing and I learned so much.
“And if you embrace the people it is such a brilliant place to play football and it’ll be a fantastic experience. I’m very envious of him.”
The Football GOAT: Messi v Ronaldo, the brand-new series from Matt Oldfield and Seth Burkett, is available now for £7.99.
