IndianFootball.Com correspondent Nitin Pant today (January 24) had the chance for an exclusive chat with the visiting Sao Paolo FC captain Mateus Versolato Junior, better known as "Matheus". Matheus is the teams goalkeeper and he has a name which sounds similar to that of German 1990 World Cup winning captain Lothar Matthaeus. He has played for the clubs first team back in Brazil, was part of their Championship (Paulista) side and also was at the World Club Championship in December 2005.
Matheus is the only player in the travelling team who is able to speak English as he studied the language for three years in an English School back in Brazil.

What's the club set up? How many different teams do the club have?

We have a main team consisting of 25 professional players, then a second team consisting of 20 players of different age groups. Then we have 3 teams from the base categories like the 15 years, 17 years and 20 years.

At what age did you join the club?

I ahve played for them since I was 13 years. Now I am 23, so I have played for 10 years for Sao Paulo FC.

Have you played for any other club(s)?

Yes, for three years I played for the club of my city called Sambirnardo then I came to Sao Paulo FC at the age of 13.

What is the nature of coaching you get?

The coach practices with us a lot of touch game techniques.

Any special preparation for this India tour?

Yes, we came back from vacations and we practiced for two weeks in a special place in Brazil just for this India tour.

What is the average age of the team?

20 to 22 years.

Tell me something about your memories of the World Club Championship?

Good, we were the champions and we did the best and we were the best.

What was the impression of Liverpool FC on the team? You expected to win?

Liverpool is a good team. We heard a lot of things like our team is not so good as they thought they were. Steven Gerard said a lot of things about the team. Yes, we expected that time to win. We didn't said any thing before the game, we left them to speak a lot of things, we just concentrated on the game, to play and win

Have you heard of Indian football?

Yes I heard about the national team of India and in Brazil sometimes I have seen highlights of scores and goals of Indian football on TV.

What's your opinion on Asian football?

Japan is the strongest team now, but India is growing-up, South Korea is growing-up, China is growing as well and most are playing World Cup. So, I think football is getting better each year on this continent.

What was the reaction of people in Brazil when it made an early exit from last years World Cup?

Deception. The media in Brazil said that Brazil will be the champion before the start of the tournament and it did not happen. So all of the people were sad about this.

What type of competition are you expecting from Indian clubs you are going to play?

They should be very strong physically and technically. They must be good. We hope they give us stiff competition.

How are you taking this tour? Just matches for experimenting with the team or testing new players for the next season?

There are two ways to think. Some players from the first team but not in the playing squad are here to play and show it to our managers that we have the capacity to play in the first team. So everybody here in the squad will try to show something different. And as the manager said that many people will be watching us and who knows some players can play here for other teams in Asia, anything can happen. We just need to do our good job.

Your first day in India. How you like the city (Delhi)?

We stayed most of the time in the hotel so we couldn't see much but what I could see during my bus ride to and from the Ambedkar Stadium the city is beautiful. I want to visit the temples, the Taj Mahal, and other things, which I saw in books.

Thank you for talking to us at IndianFootball.Com and best of luck for the matches. Hope you enjoy your visit!

Your Welcome and Thank you!