Four years ago teenager Gabriel Jesus was painting the streets of Jardim Peri, a favela on the northern edge of Sao Paulo where crime is rife and fetid creeks flow past children playing football. Now, as he attempts to become Brazil’s number 9 at football’s main event, having just turned 21, it is the favela that paints him on its walls to thank the striker for the inspiration he provides.
More than a dozen houses of the region were painted with a depiction of the Manchester City and Brazil striker celebrating a goal, as if he were calling for his mother Vera Lucia. The 112-feet-tall mural in green, yellow and blue was visited by the striker himself on a quiet visit.