Girls fight for spot in Brazil\\\'s \\\'jogo bonito\\\'

At the foot of a Sao Paulo slum, 10 girls played a football game in a cold gym, fighting for goals and acceptance in Brazil’s male-dominated sport. While the country’s attention is on the 2014 World Cup and Brazil star forward Neymar, the girls of the Rosinha favela quietly dream of getting equal treatment in the land of the ‘jogo bonito’ (beautiful game). Ana Julia de Souza, 12, chose football shorts over a ballet tutu even though her father does not approve. ‘My dad doesn’t like it very much when I come here. He wants me to go to ballet lessons,’ she said. ‘But I prefer to play football.’ Souza’s favorite players are Brazil’s David Luiz, Marcelo and Hulk, and she hopes her heros can lift a sixth World Cup trophy. A growing number of Brazilian women are learning the art of dribbling and tackling, and more than 5,000 are playing in local championships. But they have yet to get a professional league to call their own, despite being the home of football legend Marta, who has been named the FIFA women’s world player of the year five times. Marta told AFP in a recent interview that she wants Brazil to have ‘several women who can become role models for young women in female football.'