Roberto Carlos: Brazil legend set to make appearance for Shropshire pub team

Roberto Carlos' brilliant, swerving free-kick for Brazil against France in 1997 is one of the most memorable goals in the history of football.

It's no wonder then that a pub team in Shropshire could hardly believe it when they learned the World Cup-winning full-back will play for them in a Sunday league match.

The Bull In The Barne won the services of Carlos — now 48 — in a 'dream transfer raffle' on eBay meaning he will appear as a substitute at one of their Shrewsbury & District games in February.

«You pay £5 to enter the raffle for a chance to have a pro sign for your team. One of our lads said in a group chat 'let's just give it a go' and we ended up winning it,» striker and club secretary Matthew Brown told BBC Radio Shropshire.

«On Friday afternoon, our manager, Ed Speller, sent a message to say we won the competition and none of us believed him. We thought he was having us on.

»I went out on Friday night and woke up with a bit of a sore head on Saturday and I had messages from people saying 'is it true about Roberto Carlos?' and at that point I was thinking 'it can't have happened, it's just a dream'."

As well as lifting the 2002 World Cup, Carlos also won three Champions League and four La Liga titles with Real Madrid in his career, which ended in 2015 after a spell in India as player/head coach with Delhi Dynamos.

So how will Bull in The Barne's facilities compare with those at the Bernabeu Stadium?

«We play on a pitch next to Hanwood Village Hall. The changing room is proper Sunday league, pretty basic, a couple of the showers don't work,» Brown added.

«There has been talk of moving the game somewhere else because the car park is tiny.

»Our usual crowd is mostly just a couple of family members, but we do have two