The Street League team includes homeless people

The group are all members of Street League, a football-based charity which aims to use the sport to tackle the more challenging aspects in the lives of its players.

They were taken to Brazil both to play football and to see for themselves the squalid deprivation experienced by many of their opponents.

It is hoped the result will be a fresh start off the pitch for many of the British players and the launch of a similar project in South America.

Anti-social behaviour

The trip has not produced any footballing victories for the UK squad - they lost all their matches.

But in between games, players were taken round some of the worst slums in Rio, where many of the Brazilian players live.

We can start to address some of the bigger issues and take on the bigger game - the game of life really Damian Hatton, Street League

BBC correspondent Tom Gibb, who met the Street League squad on tour, says it has helped the British players put their problems into perspective.

Unemployment and an enormous wealth gap contribute to a chronic lack of opportunity for young people in Brazil, he says.

On the pitch too, the British players learnt important lessons in curbing anti-social behaviour.

One player said: "When a centre-forward kicks me or gives me a bit of banter, if I can walk away from it then why can't I take that off the pitch?

'Entry point'

"When I go out on a Friday or Saturday night with my friends and someone gives me a bit of mouth on the streets, I don't have to go up and thump him."

Most of the UK players, helped by Street League, are set to go on to learn trades such as plumbing or mechanics.

The charity's director Damian Hatton said: "We use football to engage these groups so homeless, rough sleepers and drug addicts can get off the streets."

Football was used as a valuable "entry point" to engage the young men and spark conversation.

"We can then start to address some of the bigger issues and take on the bigger game - the game of life really," he said.