Roberto Carlos and Chris Kamara enjoy pint in Shropshire village pub after big match
As befitting a Sunday league contest – albeit on a Friday – it was back to the pub after the match for Roberto Carlos on his visit to Shropshire.
The legendary Brazilian full-back was in Hanwood, near Shrewsbury, playing for pub team Bull in the Barne after they won a raffle to have the chance to play with a superstar.
And after ignoring an underlying injury to twice come on in the 4-3 loss to Harlescott Rangers, Carlos was ready for a drink.
Asked if he would be joining his new team-mates for a drink, Carlos – who had been speaking through a translator – fired back immediately in English 'of course!'.
He was then pictured enjoying a beer with pundit Chris Kamara, who was also in the Shropshire village for the occasion, in the Bull in the Barne in Shrewsbury.
The Brazilian might have won everything there is to win in the game but he wasn't put off by the low-key rural surroundings during
Speaking from a village hall table sat next to Barne manager Ed Speller after the game he said the pitch was no worse than some he played on growing up in Brazil.
He said: "It is part of life. You need this, to be able to have played at a World Cup you have played on pitches like this in Brazil."
He added: "The pitches I played on in Sao Paulo are pretty much like this."
Carlos also reserved words of praise for the efforts of his team mates – and the opposition.
He said: "It was really good. Tactically obviously not the same but as long as they are having fun, they look for the ball a lot, work really hard, so it was enjoyable and that is the best thing. You see a lot of tactics in football these days so it is nice to relax and enjoy things."
Barne manager Speller said it had been a dream come true that was still sinking in.
He said: "It is surreal. I would never have thought of anything like this a couple of years ago. I would not expect any of it, especially being a footballer since I was six years old. It is amazing."
"He added: "it was incredible, even now I am flabbergasted. It was incredible just to see it and witness it. We have been losing sleep for weeks thinking about this, it was a real moment seeing him coming down when we were doing the warm up, coming into the changing room, it was amazing."
"He came in and shook everyone's hand, some lads went for the clasp."
Ed said the match had been an unforgettable change of pace for the teams.
He said: "Usually it is just Liam and Kieron's mum and dad who come out to watch us so to have an actual crowd was great. It is all in good spirit and you don't get many opportunities at this level to play in front of friends and family, it was just incredible."
