Sao Paulo Brazil's Soccer Cities

A never-ending mass of concrete as far as the eye can see,

Brazil's financial centre, industrial heart,

and South America's largest city.

Brazil's World Cup begins here.

Have a look. Sao Paulo is massive.

A jungle of skyscrapers.

Moving about isn't easy.

The few who can, fly by helicopter.

Down there, it's chaos.

TRANSLATION: The best way to get around is on a motorbike,

but don't break the speed limit!

Sometimes Sao Paulo feels very un-Brazilian.

Take the area of Liberdade,

with its striking Asian population.

The city is highly cosmopolitan.

It's considered gay-friendly, but recently homophobic attacks

have been on the rise.

To help change attitudes,

the city's authorities have hired a group of drag queens.

TRANSLATION: Drags are the only part of the gay community

that doesn't suffer prejudice, cos we're funny, colourful like clowns,

but when we take off our masks we suffer like any other gay person.

In this poor community, a small samba school has chosen

the fight against homophobia as the theme for the next Carnival.

And Chaka as the queen of the parade.

Sao Paulo is a tough city.

It keeps you on your toes,

but there's always ways to release the pressure.

In a traditionally male-dominated sport,

women have knocked the gender divide aside,

helping make multiple martial arts a national passion.

TRANSLATION: Sao Paulo is a sexist city.

Women need to work hard here.

Although many sports are growing, Brazil is a football factory.

This is Sao Paulo Football Club Training Academy.

It's like a military barracks.

200 trainees live, eat, study, sleep on-site,

but the selection process is brutal.

TRANSLATION: I came here when I was 13,

chosen from a group of 13,000 teenagers.

My routine is not normal, but I do have a little time to meet girls.

Obviously, I think about helping my family financially,

but mostly I want football to be enjoyable.

-TRANSLATION:

-Here, people give too much importance to football,

but Brazil has other sports.

Sao Paulo is a city that embraces everyone and every cause.

Paulistas work hard, play hard.

It might not be the prettiest,

but there is no better stage to kick off the beautiful game.