Manchester United midfielder Anderson has lifted the lid on his tough upbringing in Brazil.

Anderson was raised in the hard-as-nails, downtrodden neighbourhood of Rubem Berta, in the Porto Alegre region of southern Brazil.

Violence is rife among the population of 78,000. Unemployment is 41 per cent.

Anderson said: "Where I grew up was a very, very bad place. I saw lots of my friends go down for silly things, so I took that as a lesson.

"I come from a difficult background, so you have to take the lessons life gives you and learn from them.

"But with the help of people who guided me I was able to live on the good side of life.

"I still do silly things at times but I try and do my best and I like to think that I wouldn't have gone the way of my friends."