Parents' Guide to The Root of the Game

THE ROOT OF THE GAME (aka Várzea: Onde Nasce o Futebol) follows football (soccer) players and coaches competing in the Super Copa Pioneer, São Paulo's largest and most prestigious amateur football tournament. The three-part docuseries examines the city's várzea scene, a local subculture of grassroots football rooted in the working-class culture of the city's periphery. Interviews with featured team and league coaches and players highlight the role várzea plays in their daily lives, and how it both unifies communities and fuels neighborhood rivalries. With the help of professional Brazilian footballers Cafu and Raphinha, both of whom are former várzea players, it also shares how amateur football clubs from low-income settlements known as favelas develop exceptional skill, discipline, and resilience in their players despite the fact that they train and compete on rudimentary pitches while navigating significant social hardships. These qualities, in turn, attract professional scouts and European clubs to major várzea tournaments, which they see as a hotbed of local raw talent. Throughout it all, viewers see key moments from Super Copa Pioneer matches as the teams compete for a spot in the final match at Allianz Parque stadium, where they will play for the coveted trophy, exposure, and the top money prize.