Football Champions

Russian tennis player Marat Safin apparently harbors a desire to become a soccer pro and change his nationality to Brazilian. At least that is how it might appear judging by these photos supplied by our friends at InsideOut Sports Entertainment. The former U.S. Open champ recently joined former Brazilian great Zico for a kick-around at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

“It is an honor for me to meet Zico at the Maracana Stadium,” said Safin. “I would have liked to be at the stadium when it could host 200,000 people. Now it is only half, but it still big. It is very nice that the event did it for us and we had a lot of fun playing with him.”

If you think the Maracana will feature in a future episode of our Soccer Meccas series...you're absolutely right. Stay tuned.