Episode 1 Street Kid World Cup

This programme contains strong language

Nine teenage girls are on a trip of a lifetime. Oh, it's recording.

-Us in the airport. ALL:

-Yay!

They're heading to Brazil to represent their country.

-ALL:

-England!

But this is a World Cup with a difference.

-ANNOUNCER:

-Welcome to Street Child World Cup.

The players in this tournament have all grown up on the streets

or away from their parents.

And this is Team England.

She's shit, she's shit, she's shit. I'm the best one on the team, yeah.

A group of football-loving girls from London, all living in care.

I think I definitely felt like I had to grow up too quickly.

There's so much I missed out on.

I wouldn't wish my worst enemy to go through what I did.

They may be united by their tough backgrounds,

but confidence and commitment don't come easy.

Come and shake hands. What is that going to look like to people?

'A lot of the young people we're bringing out have lots of historical

'baggage that they're carrying with them that they haven't resolved yet.'

So what will happen when this group of girls

leave their lives in care and face their biggest challenge?

I do want to go home 100... I'm telling you now, I want to go home.

You all said I was shit in the beginning.

Just cos I've never been in goal, doesn't mean I'm shit.

What?! BLEEP

Well, I'm sorry!

Can the girls put their difficult past behind them...

SHE SHOUTS

..and pull together as a team?

You see everyone and you see how hopeful they are for the future

and if they can be hopeful, why can't I?

And can Team England win the World Cup?

I feel so overwhelmed.

It has to be the best experience of my life, you know?

This is been like the biggest emotional roller coaster

I've ever been on and I don't ever want to get off.

My boots are a bit too big for me,

cos you bitches, yeah, got me size five. What we doing?

Having a football coaching session.

-Er, no. I'm sorry, Christmas is next like Tuesday.

-Six days, guys.

Where's my present?

Christmas is next Wednesday but I still expect you here for training.

-What?!

-You're funny(!)

-You're taking the piss, in't ya?

This is the story of how nine girls from London...

I can't even kick it!

..who have never played football together before...

I'm not going to lie, I'm proper like dyin'.

My hair's giving me stress and all that.

..try to become Team England

and, in just four months, head to Brazil

for the Street Child World Cup

to take on countries from across the globe.

-Shit!

-Unlucky.

Listen, yeah, when I heard, yeah, that these people, yeah,

these girls in the favelas, yeah, run around in bare feet playin' football.

-They've played all their lives...

-Imagine them with their crap on.

-They're going to be...

Hopefully they ain't used to shoes

and that makes them shit or something.

It's 6pm at a training ground in North London.

The team have now been training for three months.

Coach Jack is waiting for them to turn up.

Training should be from six till seven this evening.

No-one here as yet.

The girls haven't only been chosen for their football skills.

They've all been removed from their parents

and now live with foster families or in hostels and children's homes.

-Hi, Jack.

-Hey, Sam, you OK?

-Yeah.

First to arrive is 17-year-old team captain Sam.

Cos not everyone's turning up, we're not learning anything.

We're not playing as a team.

So when we go out in Brazil we're going to look a bit like mugs,

to be honest.

We're going to play a game called crab football.

Oh, no, no, I've got dodgy nails!

18-year-old Camille and her 17-year-old sister Olivia are both

on the team and it's not just the coaches they're trying to impress.

When I, um, was telling everyone in my school about it,

all the boys just laughed and they're like, "You play football?

"What position do you play?" And it's just like...

And the worst thing is they'll like, "Explain the offside rule to me."

I'm like, "Can you even do that?"

-Oh!

-That was right next to you.

They leave for Brazil in just six weeks.

That's a foul!

You've got an hour in this session. You need to try and focus a bit.

But with so many of the girls struggling to make it on time,

or even at all, coach and education advisor Les

is worried they won't be ready.

If you can all work as a team, you've got to try and get here

as much as you can and on time because otherwise, as a team,

it's going to be very difficult for you to gel.

'The young people we're bringing out, I know the difficult backgrounds

'that they come from.'

When we get to Brazil that'll throw up its own difficulties.

Leyla, can we have your phone away,

-please?

-In a hot second. Is that all right?

-No.

'It's the unknown to all of us.'

Come on in. Take a seat.

'Taking a group out like this under these circumstances,

'yeah, yeah, it's pretty tough. It's pretty tough.'

All of you are good, man. Do you know what?

I thought everyone was going to be shit. I'm not going to lie.

But you lot, you're good.

Basically, she's shit, she's shit, she's shit.

I'm the best one on the team, yeah.

I don't know what they think they're doing

cos they won't make it to Brazil.

If this was X Factor they'd be out first round.

-I was going to be positive about you lot!

-I'm joking, I'm joking.

They're actually really good.

Camille was 11 when social services removed her from the family home.

Well, when I lived with my parents,

you were never really sure, like, if they would come home

or if when they did, you'd be allowed to stay in the house.

My dad especially was really temperamental.

My dad was, like, "Get out, I don't want you in here."

We'd have to walk.

It was literally what you had on then, get out the door,

that's all you've got now.

It wasn't easy,

but I think it made it easier that I had my sister with me

cos, you know, a burden shared is a burden halved, so...

Oh, you're my little munchkin. You have to come and shop with me.

-No, cos I'm not little.

-Yes, you are. You're my little...

Cam and younger sister Oli now share a bedroom

in their foster carer's house.

This is Oli's bed and this is mine.

And, erm, that wardrobe there, that's meant to be for Oli,

but apparently there's my stuff in there as well.

Not only is it like going from living with family to living

with strangers but like everything was just different.

I cried for like the first like week straight.

Even though it's been like a year or something, I still don't feel

like comfortable here, I don't feel like it's my house.

I still feel like a guest.

I don't even eat here.

I won't even go and get a drink from the fridge like.

If I want a drink I'll go to the shop and get a drink.

Brazil is a chance for the sisters to leave their lives in London

even if it's only for ten days.

In Brazil it's like a whole new continent and a different world

and there's so much to experience, like, I don't know,

at times, like, I know I have so much to be grateful for

but I do feel really ungrateful.

And because I haven't experienced something else I feel like,

I don't know, it'll be an eye-opener.

-You kicked me!

-She kicked me. She kicked me. She kicked me.

I was trying to kick the ball!

-I'll put you in A & E if you carry on.

-All right, bitch.

Tonight, Camille and the rest of the team are heading to meet with

the organisers of the tournament.

How do you feel about being in something

called the Street Child World Cup?

-Does that bother you?

-I'm not a street child.

That's what I think gets me

cos when I say it to my mates and that, they're like, "What?"

Are you all looked after? Yeah.

OK, so let's focus on the issue you guys have got,

like, what it is to be a "looked after" child in the UK, yeah?

-Everyone thinks it's Tracy Beaker.

-Yeah.

Everyone, everyone, everyone's like, "So you're like Tracy Beaker?" No.

Generally people are very negative about looked after children.

They think that, like, we don't go to school,

we sit there taking drugs.

We just basically just ruin, are just ruining our lives, and yeah...

They don't understand what happens.

They don't understand, like, how deep it is, to be honest.

Every street child, every homeless young person,

they'll be seen as bad kids.

They'll have negative stereotypes.

They are totally misunderstood and they are stigmatised.

And that whole core of every young person, all 250 you'll meet in Rio,

is that they don't have a family.

So, actually, that's what I really want you to go to Rio with.

And you've got a real opportunity at Rio to go and be like,

you know, "Yeah, OK, we're not street children under that banner

"but there's an underlying thing."

-There's still some similarities.

-Yeah.

I think it annoys me, especially in programmes like X Factor, where

they have a sob story just to be famous, like. I don't want that.

Like, I don't need a sob story.

Yeah, maybe I've had a bad past but, I don't need a sob story.

I'm a strong person.

I don't think us lot really need a sob story, to be honest. So, yeah.

Sam was sent to live with foster carers

when her mum could no longer look after her.

Obviously moving into a house, there'll be someone you don't know.

It is so scary. I was seven and, like, I was so scared.

I didn't know what was going to happen to me.

Like, all I wanted to do is be back with my mum, like.

I just wanted to live with my mum

and I felt like I'd been robbed from that.

I wouldn't wish my worst enemy to go through what I did.

But, I suppose you've got to go through the bad bits

to get to the good bits, so, yeah.

Unlike most kids in care, Sam has been lucky enough to live

with the same foster family for nine years.

Hello, Ginger!

THEY LAUGH

'Sometimes we have really big fights

'and, like, I go off and I go stay at a mate's for a night or two.

'I had, like,'

a lot of issues with my anger. I couldn't control it at all.

'My tantrums when I was like five, six, they were bad'

and it caused me a lot of problems at home with my carer

and, like, a lot of problems at school as well.

Like, a lot of problems everywhere to be honest.

'I think I was just angry because of what happened.

'Take it out on everyone else.'

When Sam goes to Rio,

I'm hoping she enjoys herself,

she stays safe and she learns a bit about the background

and the needs of other people.

I think when you see something first-hand,

that is when I'm hoping she's going to respect a lot more.

It's now just two weeks before Team England leave for Brazil...

-What, it's only us two?

-I think it's only us.

Please tell me it's not only us two here.

..and tonight is the first time they'll be playing

together as a team in a match.

Do you know how much I hate this kit? I'm not even now, yeah.

They're up against Islington's U14s,

and, for coach Les,

it's his first chance to see how the girls will cope with competition.

It's just an exercise in trying to find out where the girls are

at this point really. We don't really know that much about them

in terms of match-play scenarios.

It's all been in training.

You know, some of the girls smoke

so obviously it's going to be quite tough for them.

Let's wait and see what the result is, shall we?

Where are you going? Why you walking all the way down here?

Because I don't want to get seen wearing a football kit and smoking.

I'm a bit nervous, it's our first match, innit?

Our first two matches. See how we play, innit?

We're going to thrash them, I don't care. The timing, innit?

-Leyla?

-What?

-Are you able to take piercings out or not?

No, I'm not taking none of my piercings out.

-I refuse to take my piercings out.

-That answered that question then(!)

Leyla, there's no phones out there. This is a game of football.

There's not phones you... No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

This is a game of football, you don't, no, no...

Can you put it, leave it there, please, with your friend?

We need to get serious about this. Thank you.

OK. Leyla, Olivia, let's get warmed up.

-Hard work out there, innit?

-Yeah.

Well done, Chloe. Well done.

Well done! Well done!

It's a strong start for Team England.

Try and find someone. Find someone with a yellow bib. Well done, Sam.

-Well done.

-That's it. Better.

But the opposition are more experienced as a team

and towards the end of the first half, score the first goal.

That's OK. Encourage.

Losing to a younger team knocks their confidence

and the team starts to unravel.

-Just encourage them.

-All I asked for is a decent pass.

Just encourage, cos you play the game regularly, so just encourage.

And after half-time, things go from bad to worse.

It's OK. Encourage, guys, encourage.

The more goals they concede, the more they lose heart.

This is shit, mate.

Well done.

When the final whistle blows, the score is 4-0.

That's what we do at the end of a game. Sam, come on.

Sam, come on, shake hands. That's what it's about - sportsmanship.

You've got to learn how to be a sportsman.

Leyla, are you going to come and shake hands? Well, you should do.

Well done. Well done.

Well done. Well played.

Really well done.

But we lost and we failed. That's it.

Do you know how much winning means to me?

I got beaten by 13-year-olds. How does that feel?

How does that feel? Yeah, shit hurts, OK? I ain't happy.

I ain't happy.

15-year-old Sharelle is particularly annoyed,

and now she has the two-hour journey

back to her children's home in Ipswich.

She was moved there after running away from her carer in London.

Yeah, I live in this care home.

You're not allowed phones or laptops or anything.

So, I been here for how long?

I don't need to be here so it's driving me literally up the wall.

As she's run away so many times,

Sharelle is now chaperoned everywhere

but the disastrous result has triggered her frustration.

Who? Who? Who?

Ignoring her chaperone,

Sharelle takes the opportunity to run out of sight.

Les is trying to track her down.

Yeah, Jack, what's up?

-'Can you hear me?'

-Yeah.

'Is there any particular areas that she goes to?'

I mean, the obvious things would be,

does she have any contacts down here from the past?

And if so, what areas would they be?

Cos at least that would give us a good idea about where she might go

and where she might pick up the transport links to do that.

There might be obvious places.

For instance, I don't know how much food she ate

so would it be worth stopping off at a McDonald's or something?

It's worrying that she's out on her own so I mean, that's the key really,

to try and get her back safely and as quickly as possible,

and also, erm, the longer term is

do we risk taking her to Brazil?

You know, that's the other big question.

OK. All right, no problem.

See you in a while. Bye.

Every procedure is followed but Sharelle isn't found

so the police are called and she's reported as officially missing.

The next day, Sharelle hands herself in to the police...

..and then turns up for training.

Where I went, I basically stayed at a friend's house in Camden.

I stayed at their house for the night

and I just spent the whole day with all my friends.

A really nice day. It was a gamble, it really was a gamble,

but I knew that I needed it for myself.

Even if I didn't get to go Brazil, at least I'm happier within myself

instead of being upset all the time and being peed off.

I almost hit a member of staff with a chair, which was pretty bad.

Then that showed me that I'm getting a lot worse.

What I did cheered me up a lot. It got me...

I feel like I'm back on track now.

After speaking to a social worker, it's now down to Les to decide

if Sharelle can still go to Brazil.

For anybody that runs away this close to us going away,

it's going to be of concern.

We know that it's about going to and visiting friends and family,

because you're placed a long way away from them.

I mean, hopefully, that won't be the case in Brazil

but I just think the fact is a little bit different.

-We're throwing out of our hands.

-Oh, so that was the throw-ons?

-Yeah.

-All right then.

Are you ready?

Les decides to let Sharelle stay and it's a boost to the whole team.

I'm on time and I put my phone away so I ain't going to be on it

so I can work harder and focus more.

Go for it! Well done. Good.

With just one week until they leave the country,

it's their last chance to train and the girls give it their all.

Well done! Good football, you guys. Good tackle.

It was good actually because everyone turned up.

We was passing and that, so, yeah, it was good.

I think the best we've ever played to be honest.

WHISTLE BLOWS

OK, come on in, guys.

It's 7am at Heathrow Airport

and Team England are preparing to leave for Brazil.

They will spend the next ten days playing football for their country

against teenagers from broken homes around the world.

But right now, they've only got one thing on their minds.

-All right?

-Oh, it's recording.

-Us in the airport, yeah?

All tryin' to squeeze our head in the camera frame.

-Yeah, but, erm, we're standing here...

-I'm trying to fix my hair.

Yeah, like, we're basically just here trying to check in but it's upsetting

-cos once we check in we can't have a fag.

-Exactly.

So I think I might have to pop out and have another one, still.

-You all right, Sharelle?

-What's up?

-All right, babes?

I'm just cussin' Jack about his clashness.

For Sharelle, this trip is even more special.

For the first time in months, she won't have a personal chaperone.

In Ipswich, they watch everywhere you go

because they think you're going to run away or something.

I mean, it's nice to like not be watched 24/7,

if you get what I mean?

I hate it so much. To be away with the girls is lovely, you know?

-Yeah, how are you Sam, OK?

-Yeah, I'm good.

-Looking forward to it?

-Yeah.

I'm looking forward to getting there and getting a suntan.

-CAPTAIN ANNOUNCES:

-Special people on board the aeroplane today.

Team England.

THEY CHEER

Are you not supposed to be driving it? Like why, why are you talking?

-CAPTAIN:

-The crew would like to wish you the very best of luck.

Thank you!

I want to be in Rio.

Sorry, I'm a bit excited.

After a ten-hour flight and five months together as a team,

the girls finally set foot in Rio.

Am I allowed to smoke out here?

I don't care. I don't give a fuck.

Babe, before we get arrested in Brazil, yeah, let's find out.

That's all I care about at the moment.

I don't care about anything else and I'm sweating my arse off.

-Sharelle, can I have a fag please?

-What kind of heat is this?

-Thank you, love.

-This is dirty.

Fucking hell it's hot!

Will I get a tan with a 50 factor?

-Let's go. Let's finish up and jump on the coach.

-Yeah.

The girls now have an hour's coach journey from Rio

to the remote campus where they'll be staying.

It's their first glimpse of a country

none of them has visited before...

Can you see the mountains here?

-What's mountains?

-That's...that's mountains.

..including the favela slums.

Look at these houses, please. Is this OK?

How do people live in them? That's not fair?

The walls are missing and the people just living in there. Oh, my God!

By the time the team arrive,

they've been travelling for almost 24 hours.

CHEERING

But, despite the late hour, their hosts are out in full force.

CHEERING AND CHANTING

It's a warm welcome that none of the girls were expecting.

I feel famous!

I'm feeling really nervous!

I weren't expecting that like, what. Waaay! I was like cheering myself.

-Game on.

-I just want to sleep.

With most of the other teams already in bed,

the girls are ready to call it a night.

All right, cool, yeah? This is our room. Look at the beds then.

We have two bunk beds.

But they aren't the only ones in the dorms.

What?! Oh my Lord Jesus!

These big arse cockroaches, no lying.

There's a spider up there, yeah?

I jumped up on a bed and all the rest of them ran out the room still.

Did you just see me? I was Usain Boltin' out of that room.

You got bugs and shit chilling in the thing.

I know, like, I know I sound ungrateful and that

but that's taking the piss.

I'm itchin'. My whole body's just itchin'.

-Bug spray if you want.

-Bug spray, yes.

Most of the girls are content with some insect repellent.

I'm a little white girl. I'm not used to this shit.

But 17-year-old Leyla is still struggling to cope.

No, it doesn't. It looks like fucking shit.

I do want to go home. I'm telling you now, I want to go home.

Did you expect them to fumigate the whole country for you?

I did. No, I expected it to be something like a hotel.

Do you think in hotels they don't have these things?

Of course they have these things in hotels.

In front of the other kids, let's try keep it calm, yeah?

I don't want them to make up a bad name for the Team England, you know.

Leyla's extreme reaction is being triggered by some distressing

childhood memories.

There are some things

I don't want to remember.

A LOT of things I don't want to remember from my past.

Some what happened,

you witness something like imagine someone getting hit

and you'll be like, "I remember my dad used to hit me," kind of thing.

It just brings you back and forth to how life used to be

and it'll always happen.

I don't see my dad. I'm not allowed to see my dad so definitely no.

I don't even want to talk about my dad.

In the UK, Leyla is more at home in a beauty salon.

I love getting my nails done. I think it's nice.

I'd say if I don't look good, I don't enjoy my day to be honest.

To make sure when I leave I look on point.

Leyla currently lives with a foster carer after being

moved from her family home at the age of 13.

I have ten sisters including me and two brothers. Quite a big family.

Partly the reason why we came in care, my mum and dad split up.

My mum couldn't look after 12 of us alone.

I was expecting care to be better. I'm not going to lie.

I didn't think it would be this hard.

Even if you have a nice carer, your own bedroom,

everything you get in care that's good,

it'll never be the same as being with your family.

The hardest bit is definitely from seeing your family every day

to seeing them once a month.

And, you also, it was that once a month where you've got a good

two hours that's all you got, that little two hours supervised.

Every action, every movement, every word you spoke,

you'd have it written down on paper.

Always observing you. Everything like annoyed me.

If I was to ever have my own family, have my kids, a husband,

I'd always make sure the way I grew up,

the things I went through will never happen to my kids.

I'll give them what I never got, kind of thing,

which will make me even happier, knowing that.

Back in Brazil, Leyla still wants to go home

so she runs to find Janet - one of the social workers on the trip.

-I don't want to do it.

-What's the matter, baby?

I don't want to stay here. I refuse to stay here.

-I'm so shook right now, yeah, I don't like it.

-All right.

And you don't understand, my heart is hurting now.

All right, you need to look at me, look at me. You need to calm down.

A lot of people don't have this option.

You've got an option - "Oh, I want to go home."

But a lot of people don't have that, you understand? This is their life.

And this is good compared to what some of them are living.

Not saying that you have to get used to it.

Let's just deal with it, yeah? It's not nice for anybody.

It's going to look oh so different in the morning.

I'm not... I can't... I'm not...

I don't even trust myself to sleep in there. So I wake up to a bug,

I'll physically have a heart attack there and then.

I'll have a heart attack.

Early the next morning,

teams of street children from around the world are out training.

THEY CHANT

But not Team England.

KNOCKING

Morning.

Social worker Janet attempts a wake-up call.

Morning. Breakfast is served, yeah?

OK?

Cam?

-Go away.

-Sam?

An hour later, England are all up and acclimatising.

Team India's out at five in the morning.

I go out at about half six and Indonesia's training.

It's just mental.

They've just been enjoying their downtime really.

Tanning's a priority right now.

In the sunshine, everyone is finding it easier to settle in.

Even Leyla.

This morning, I was feeling guilty for my actions that I did yesterday

because it was fucking disgusting the way I reacted to the building

and that, and the way the place was.

I think I slightly misjudged it in a sense as well.

I'm feeling much more positive now

because I've had a better day today than yesterday.

For now, Leyla's happy to stay

but it might take her a while longer to get used to the wildlife.

What?!

Don't play with me.

-That thing there, look.

-A butterfly.

No, that's not a butterfly, that's...

That's a wasp, cus.

-I'm hitting it with this boot.

-Holy shit!

Man, I ain't got no shoes on! Don't...

At dinner time, the teams face another challenge -

Brazilian cuisine on campus.

It's a far cry from their UK favourites of burgers,

chicken and kebabs.

They serve fish at lunch. I don't eat fish.

-Then at breakfast it's only bread rolls.

-Urgh!

And then dinner is normally the same as lunch

and they'll put a bit of meat in it.

I want to eat McDonald's and Subway.

I think I just got bit on my bum. Oh!

Camille and Sam aren't the only ones struggling.

THEY CHATTER

-Chloe found a toenail in hers.

-Just now?

Disgusting. My food is disgusting.

MUSIC: "Team" by Lorde # Look upon your greatness

# As she'll send the call out

# Send the call out

# Send the call out

# Send the call out

# Send the call out... #

It's day two

and this morning, Jack's determined to get Team England on the pitch.

OK, guys, are you all ready for kit?

-It's all one size?

-Yeah.

Go on, then.

-We're doing training, apparently.

-Playing on grass?

So everybody on studs, please.

It's hot and I've got kids' shin pads, so, yeah.

And I'm sweating.

First the girls are put through their paces with a warm-up.

# ..A hundred jewels on throats

# A hundred jewels between teeth

# Now bring my boys in

# Their skin in craters like the moon

# The moon we love like a brother

# While he glows through the room

# Dancing around the lies we tell

# Dancing around big eyes as well... #

Hoping to motivate the team,

the coaches have arranged a practice match before the tournament starts.

One thing I'll just say, that we will be playing a friendly

against the Philippines at the end of this training session

so you'll be able to put what you've learnt into practice,

ahead of tomorrow's first match, OK?

-Who are we having a match with?

-The Philippines.

This is England's first chance to check out the opposition

and meet street kids from another country.

But, so far, most of the girls don't seem bothered.

No, I've seen the Philippines around but I've never seen them train

so I don't know how they play or if they're good or not.

But some of them are quite small actually.

It's going to be weird like playing with something that's down to there.

They're this big. They're going to be running through our legs

and we're never going to see it coming.

I've said that from England, we're going to lose.

I don't know why you're just realising now,

when I've been warning you lot for months.

-Come on. Come on, Sharelle.

-I'm smoking, mate.

-Come over.

-We're about to play a game of football.

-I'm smoking, mate.

Team Philippines were brought up on the streets

and have been training daily to prepare for the tournament.

Now, we need... Guys, just listen up one minute.

Let's just have a little... Let's just...

THEY CHATTER

This is only the girls' second match.

Guys, guys, just one minute.

Coaches Les and Jack are hoping the team will not only

focus on the game, but cope if they lose.

What we do need to do is work hard together and talk to each other,

communicate the whole time.

This pitch isn't great, so it's got to be short passes all the way.

One, two, three...

ALL: ENGLAND!

Team England start strong in defence...

WHISTLE BLOWS

..but once the Philippines get the ball, they're hard to stop.

In their last match, losing a goal knocks their confidence,

but today they're pulling together as a team.

They even start fighting back with Sharelle leading the attack.

Well done, Sharelle, well done.

-Well kept.

-Excellent. Brilliant.

But the strong strikers on the other team are hard to contain.

Well done.

Good, well done, Chloe, well done.

Well done, Louise. You put her under pressure there. Well done.

And despite not giving up, it's 4-0 as the whistle blows.

WHISTLE BLOWS

-Well done, girls.

-Shake hands, guys, shake hands.

Well done. You played really well.

The team may have lost, but after giving it their all,

they're in high spirits.

It was all right, you know.

Like even though they won, we're a lot better as a team.

First time we've lost and I'm still happy.

They did very, very well. They were competitive.

They will probably come off thinking, "We want to do a little bit better."

But they're already doing the right things.

They're saying the right things and that is a real big shift for me.

One thing I can't fault out there was your attitude,

your effort, your work rate.

That was really good and really clear for everybody to see.

If you go in with that level of spirit, I think we'll do all right.

I'm not even going to lie.

-We are doing so much better than we did last time.

-Yeah?

I'm loving you guys.

It's like you guys are sick out there. I'm not even joking.

These girls, yeah, they've been training hard,

but from where we've all come from, people who don't play football a lot,

we have done so well. We've tackled them girls. We went for it.

You've worked hard out there, guys.

Even though they won, we're still on it, you know.

-Now we just know what we've done wrong.

-Hands in again, guys.

Three, two, one.

ALL: ENGLAND!

Excellent. Well done.

Their last defeat in England

triggered Sharelle to run away from her children's home.

I remember I was talking to my social worker and he told me that my record,

I'd gone missing 143 times.

And some of them it was like for a week or two weeks.

I would go out and do all this stupid shit

just cos I was trying to clear my head in a bad way.

I've ended up in Ipswich because of it.

My whole life I've never had my parents about.

Most of my life at least, so I'm used to not having that motivation.

I'm used to not having, like, having somebody push me all the time

telling me, "Yeah, Sharelle, you've got to do this.

"Sharelle, you've got to do that."

And so I have to sort of take it off my own back and grow up a bit.

If I don't, you know, do well, I'm going to end up nowhere

and I don't want to be, I don't want to, you know,

just prove the stereotype of care kids cos that's what we get -

"Oh, you're going to be a hood rat. You're going to be selling drugs."

Not everybody ends up like that, you know. It is annoying.

Perceptions people have of care kids,

they usually think that we're a lot of trouble.

And, to be honest, kids in care, it's never their fault.

I can never blame it on a kid for what happened to them

because the way they turn out is the way they were raised.

And a lot of care kids haven't been raised right

so you have to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Care kids are normal people, just with bad histories.

COACHES AND PLAYERS CHANT

It's 6am on their third day -

the official start to the tournament.

For the first time, the girls are all up and raring to go.

We've had an epiphany. We woke up...

Every time we wake up in the morning, yeah,

we go shower, they're coming back from training.

-So we figure to each other...

-We go swimming.

-Yeah, and we go swimming.

I'm thinking to myself, "Why are we not training?"

So everybody brought all the girls together and then we're like,

"Yep, training, we're going to do some shots,

"we're going to do everything."

If we score, what's our little tease?

As training this early was their own idea, captain Sam leads the session.

You know the Philippines were like this, yeah?

Sharelle would come out and they was like that

and they just banged it in, do you know what I mean?

Cos we're not just going to take shots just from the penalty point.

Do you know what I mean?

When we kick it, kick it down.

I feel like we're properly getting it together now.

We're taking it seriously. We came out before breakfast.

We got ourselves out of bed.

Just like made a team decision like without adults to come and train.

The girls are starting to take the tournament more seriously

and they're even beginning to enjoy it.

Everyone said they were fine with it.

It's all good. I was hot anyway.

Times like this are something Camille feels she's missed out on

in the past.

I think I definitely felt like I had to grow up too quickly.

I mean, like, even now when I think about it,

I have my moments where I just want to cry about it

cos I feel like there's so much I missed out on.

It was hard.

I felt like everyone got to enjoy their childhood while, you know,

I was going home every day to make sure my sister got home OK.

Then we'd share the cooking.

It felt like we were the parents to each other

when really it shouldn't have been like that.

In Brazil, Camille doesn't just have her sister to rely on.

There's a whole team who have experienced life in care.

-Since this, like we talk a lot more.

-Yeah.

We're a lot more closer, definitely. So we've got a lot in common.

-Being in care is something that plays a major part in your life.

-Yeah.

So having friends that don't really get it can be hard sometimes

but when we're in football, we all have that in common.

-You don't have to worry.

-Generally, we don't ask a lot of questions.

Oh, like, "Why are you in care?"

cos other people that are not in care they generally ask questions

cos they don't understand it.

Whereas us lot we're like, "Yeah, we're in care. Doesn't matter.

"It's not a problem. Like whatever, innit?"

Some of the reasons are a bit deep.

So we know that, like, it's not appropriate to ask.

But I think other people, they don't have that, they don't get that like,

"Oh, that could be a reason. Let me not ask

-"cos it might be uncomfortable for them."

-Yeah.

Before the tournament starts,

all the teams will be taking part in the opening ceremony.

ANNOUNCER: Now please welcome, the athletes!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

With teams from 19 countries,

media from around the world is covering the event.

And straight afterwards, Team England must play their first match.

All this pressure is starting to get to captain, Sam.

Adding to her stress,

Sam wants a different team line-up to coach, Les.

But you lot don't know... Oh, shut up, man.

You lot don't even know what you're fucking talking about, bruv.

They're just... They're fucking idiots.

They saw us train...

They saw us training, me and Olivia, as midfield

and everyone else as defence, yeah,

so why are they trying to switch it up and make Olivia defence?

They don't know what they're fucking talking about.

They don't know how to fucking play, man.

Fuck's sake, man.

-Did I say there was "I" in team?

-I was just saying.

Did I say there was "I" in team? No. Fuck off, man.

Despite Sam's outburst, Les leaves her to calm down.

I just think they've gone into meltdown.

It's getting close, they're really nervous

and they're just, kind of, yeah...

edges are fraying, their edges are fraying a little bit, really.

They just need to try and keep it together, really.

ANNOUNCER SPEAKS IN PORTUGUESE

After an hour in the hot afternoon sun,

the opening ceremony comes to an end.

WHOOPING AND APPLAUSE

-It was a bit long, though.

-Is my face sunburnt?

-I'm sweating everywhere.

-Where?

Oh, no, I knew I could sweat from them.

You know how hot I am, man?

I was sitting there next to so many people, yeah.

All I was feeling was me breathing in recycled air.

I was just sitting there trying to be happy, getting hot.

When we were all singing, I was like,

"No!" We were all crouched together, I'm like, "I need to breathe.

"I don't come from this country. I don't understand."

I'm feeling really hot, though.

I've got a bit of a headache coming on.

I should probably stop smoking then.

My head's really hurting.

But there's no time to cool down.

Their first match of the tournament is about to kick off.

ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the pitch Team Mozambique.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Feeling much more at home in Brazil's heat

are England's opposition, Mozambique.

Many of the players have lost parents to war.

They were brought together to play football and to protect them

from the risks of the streets.

WHISTLE BLOWS

After training hard this morning, Team England start well.

CHEERING

But after a corner, a goal slips through the net.

Come on, keep going.

It's a crushing blow to Team England after putting in so much effort.

And just before halftime, they concede another goal.

That's 2-0 to Mozambique.

OK, encourage now. Come on, encourage. We're playing well.

Guys, you're doing really well out there. You're working really hard.

Shut up. You know we're not doing well.

Feeling the pressure, the girls slip into old habits.

They can't hide their frustration.

Chloe and Sharelle, you can't play flat because

when you play flat like that... Half the time when you went for the ball

you were both beside each other. So what you need to do is turn around.

But one of you needs to get the ball.

If it's not coming to you, you won't set each other up.

If you see that happening, just shout on them,

tell them to come straight back and help us.

It's easier if we can break together instead of passing it to them.

OK.

ANNOUNCER: Show some support. They're about to kick off. Let's go.

CHEERING

SAM GROANS

Sam's tackle flares up an old knee injury.

ANNOUNCER: Boys, can we get some medical assistance?

-She has knee injuries from before.

-She what?

She has knee injuries from before and it's the same knee.

Sam, Sam, Sam?

Guys, can you give them a bit of space?

There's no other person in the team that plays midfield or proper

knows how to do it, cos that's just my position.

I thought, "Well, if I don't get up,

"the team's going to lose more than we already are."

..Yeah, well.

You'll have to go in the middle of the park.

You'll have to go in the middle.

Liah will go in defence.

'I just want to power through it, to be honest.

'So I thought, "I'd just better get up."'

Hold on, no, she's all right. Hold on, she's all right.

'The adrenaline was pumping through,

'so when I started running, I couldn't feel the pain.'

Well done.

Spurred on, Team England start to attack.

Go on, go on!

Oh, unlucky. Good effort.

Minutes later, they secure a free kick.

Oh, unlucky.

Well done, Oli.

So close to goal, it's England's best chance yet.

Key striker Chloe steps up.

WHISTLE BLOWS

ANNOUNCER: And it's a goal for England!

Make some noise for England, come on!

Now just one goal behind, England are back in the game.

RHYTHMIC WHISTLING

CROWD: England!

But seconds later, Mozambique score again.

It's over.

ANNOUNCER: Mozambique 3, England 1.

Guys, you've got to shake hands. Leyla, go and shake hands, please.

Come on. Come and shake hands, that's what you've got to do.

That's what we said last time.

What is that going to look like to people?

Come on, shake hands, it's just a game, you know.

And, no... We were... You played well. You played well.

I shook their hand.

Yeah, but it's not... It's not the team's fault. Shake hands, then.

MUSIC: "A World Alone" by Lorde

# That slow burn wait

# While it gets dark

# Complain about work

# They're studying business

# I study the floor... #

At the end of the day, I'm not here to be judgmental about young people.

I know the difficult backgrounds that they come from.

It's just that the pressure of wanting to do your best

and wanting to win can sometimes make for chaos, really.

And...and...we just try to manage it in the best way we can, really.

I'm annoyed.

I'm fucking pissed off.

Do you know what the problem is? Whenever we lose,

we say we'll learn from what we've done wrong.

But no-one fucking learns. Everyone just plays the same.

-It's not even that.

-That's what I think it is.

Half the time when people are booting the ball,

they just boot it into fucking midair.

They're not even aiming or looking at anyone.

They just bang it. That's it. That's all people do.

But at least one member of the team is feeling positive.

I think we did all right. Not bad.

At least we scored one goal, that's all I'm saying.

For now, the girls call it a day.

But if they lose their next group match,

they'll be out of the tournament.

Next morning, still sore from their defeat,

Team England are being forced into an early start.

It's five o'clock now and we've been up for a lot longer than this.

We're all getting ready to go to Christ the Redeemer today.

So everyone's excited.

I think everyone's just tired, cos it's so early.

I know, personally, I just want to go back to sleep.

I'm not made for early mornings in England. Especially not in Brazil.

Today, there are no matches.

Instead, the event organisers are taking all the teams to

one of Brazil's most famous sights.

Christ the Redeemer.

It's just a big statue of Jesus Christ doing that, innit?

It's really like holy, innit?

The trip's also been planned to give the teams the chance to spend

time together and get to know each other.

Leyla, come on. Sorry.

The bus ain't come yet. I'm outside.

Come on.

I'll just sit there then.

England will share a coach with Mozambique,

who beat them in yesterday's match.

Mozambique, yeah!

And one of the favourites to win the tournament, Brazil.

BRAZILIAN TEAM CHANT

For many on board, the visit to the famous Christ the Redeemer statue

is a trip of a lifetime.

CHANTING

And more than anything, they want Team England to join in.

No.

No.

I don't understand.

In the beginning, when we first got on the coach,

I kind of wanted to just put my headphones in and sleep.

I was really tired.

CHEERING AND CHANTING

It was a bit awkward because we had two Portuguese-speaking

teams on the coach with us.

Obviously we don't speak Portuguese and they don't speak English.

SINGING IN PORTUGUESE CONTINUES

They really like tried hard to involve us.

Once we were all involved, it was amazing.

Eventually, they start to win the girls around.

Having got Sharelle up dancing,

Brazil are looking for another performance.

No.

-Sing.

-No.

What is your name?

Sharelle.

Sharelle.

Sharelle - beautiful.

Aw!

Aw!

Now you have to. Now you have to sing.

Oh, God.

# He ain't fly, though

# He don't even drive, though

# That's why you're calling my phone

# And won't leave me alone

# He ain't fly, no

# You ain't got to lie, no

# Don't lie it's why you're calling my phone

# And you're wanting me to get, get, get it

# Beat, beat, beat it... #

'We made friends up here'

that are a lot more than the friends you make back home.

'No matter what language they speak. It's also making the friends.'

Football's lovely, but I... It's the experience that got to me.

# Beat, beat, beat it

# You wanting me to beat, beat, beat it

# Beat, beat, beat it

# Beat, beat, beat it... #

APPLAUSE

Thank you, guys. Obrigado.

I think when they first came, our group was a bit guarded

and not really knowing how they're going to communicate with others.

But on the bus, that was it. To me, the ice had broken.

They just said, "Oh." Put their hands up and that was it,

just get involved. They did. It was amazing.

Brazil! Brazil!

Woo!

CHANTING

Yesterday's loss to Mozambique is soon forgotten.

You know what?

It was so amazing because we communicated through dance

and singing and making beats and that

with people who don't really speak a lot of English,

and we don't speak a lot of Portuguese.

And it was just... It was...

I just felt like... I was just so happy, innit?

Aw.

Being at one of the world's most religious sites is affecting

one of the team in particular.

I'm shook. I'm so shook of heights right now.

Oh, my days.

It feels amazing. Oh, my God, you don't understand.

I need to go and take more pictures and that.

Oh, my Lord Jesus, that is beautiful.

I don't know. I just don't know what it is. It's just beautiful.

They didn't have to do this, but out of their own hearts,

they decided to put a statue of him. It's amazing.

It's a spectacle.

I read the Bible and that.

So it was nice to actually do something

not just reading the Bible,

you've gone and you've witnessed something to do with the Bible,

like Jesus's statue, like, it's amazing.

When I read it, I feel like I'm more safe and protected, in some sense.

I like it. When I'm scared, I'll say a quick prayer.

I feel like that'll help me get through things, and that.

Some of the other players are appreciating Cristo

for very different reasons.

Please do not even talk to me right now. I'm too...

The rice and beans.

We have been deprived of this good,

this good stuff for a very long time.

Just biting into it is like heaven.

Like, I haven't even got time to talk to you guys, if I'm honest.

I just want to eat my burger.

I might get another one.

Oh, my God, Sharelle, I'm on fire.

I don't know which part of me hurts most.

That's Jesus up there.

I'd leave London for this. This right here.

I could live this life any day.

Forget the cold arse winters and snow.

Live where everybody is genuinely happy

and not trying to fake smile because they don't want to screw face.

It's beautiful. It's so lovely up here.

It's amazing. I've just learnt how to embrace people's cultures.

It's definitely opened my eyes. I feel so overwhelmed.

The view and the coming together with Mozambique and Brazil.

It's just overwhelming.

Today has been amazing. It was so lovely on the coach,

and then coming up here and seeing the statue - it's breathtaking.

You look out and you just see green.

You look up and everyone's happy and smiling.

I believe I've come home. I'm not in Rio, I'm home.

Yeah, I believe this is home.

MUSIC: "Rather Be" by Clean Bandit

# We have travelled land and sea

# But as long as you are with me... #

-Next time...

-Oh, shit!

No-one else wants to play there.

Why are we going to put our strongest defenders in goal?

..being in Brazil begins to take its toll.

-We don't need to change it.

-Yes, we need to work as a team.

Excuse me, we cannot have all this chaos all the time.

A lot of the arguments we're having just shouldn't happen.

I think there is a lot of tension building up between everybody.

Move about!

-That was really embarrassing.

-OK, I'm sorry.

The girls learn what life is really like for some of the other players.

You're on a different side of the world, and it's still the same issue.

And Team England...

..find out if they're through to the final or going home.

But I want to win. I didn't come all the way to Brazil to draw.