Why former Tottenham star Sandro has signed for Harborough Town

Sandro, who is working towards becoming a manager, got the unexpected offer of a playing return after getting to know Harborough manager and lifelong Spurs fan Austin while mingling with hospitality guests at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“I said to the manager, ‘you know what, I’m serious I’ll take this opportunity and enjoy it’. It’s an opportunity to feel like a player again, to be in that changing room again,” Sandro said.

The players Sandro has joined are part-timers making a big impression on the world’s oldest cup competition – having come through four qualifying rounds just to make it to the first-round proper, where they beat fellow non-league side Tonbridge Angels to set up the tie with a former Premier League club that now find themselves in League One.

The second-round trip to Reading with the amateur club is a world away from sharing the pitch with players like Ronaldinho and Neymar for Brazil.

Having a midfielder who made 17 appearances for the five-time world champions, once captained his country, won a Copa Libertadores title with Internacional, and featured for eight top-flight clubs in England, Italy, Turkey and Portugal was summed up well by Harborough boss as being “random as anything”.

Sandro himself sees the FA Cup tie with an obscure club from rural south east Leicestershire as “a dream” way to once again play the game he cherishes.

“It’s all about the love of football,” Sandro said. “It will be an nice experience, a nice moment for me to be on the pitch one more time.”