To Harborough with love - Sandro's FA Cup fairytale

Ever heard the one about the former Brazil international agreeing to play for a non-league club for free in the biggest game in their history?

When former Tottenham midfielder Sandro was propositioned about playing for seventh-tier Harborough Town during a chance meeting in a pre-match hospitality suite, the Bees manager admits he did so jokingly.

Immediately, Sandro agreed. And yet Harborough boss and Spurs season-ticket holder Mitch Austin laughed in response, simply thinking he was being humoured.

"I thought, 'nah, he is just being nice' but then he didn't go away. He's still here," Austin recalled with a laugh.

"Then I asked, 'what do I need to do now, speak to your agent?' He just said, 'take my number'. And from there, he has arrived here."

It was on a grey winter's day at Bowden Park in Market Harborough - a Leicestershire town with a population of less than 25,000 - that the Brazilian was introduced to his new team-mates on Saturday.

"It's amazing, man," Sandro told BBC East Midlands Today. "I feel the love, the energy of everyone here at the club."

It cost Tottenham £8m to bring Sandro to English football from Internacional in his homeland in 2010, but it has cost Harborough nothing to bring him out of retirement 14 years later, when he is still only 35.

Harborough chairman Pete Dougan admits the first thing he asked Austin when told about the unlikely transfer coup was "how are we going to finance this?" But the Brazilian has waved away every offer of money - and has even refused to be paid for fuel and expenses.

"I'll do it for free because I just want to enjoy it one more time," Sandro said.

Before he can come out of retirement to play for the Bees in their FA Cup second-round tie at League One Reading - a stage the club has never reached before - the midfielder has to serve a two-match ban, having been sent off in his last match for Belenenses in Portugal's top flight more than two years ago.

Still, the powerfully-built 6ft 2in former West Brom, QPR and Genoa midfielder managed to make a big impression on his arrival by stepping up to sing an initiation song in the changing rooms as his welcome was made official.

Without hesitation, he agreed to the customary introduction and even asked if there was a microphone.

It was little surprise that his team-mates didn't know the words to international hit Ai Se Eu Te Pego by fellow Brazilian Michel Telo - but he still had the room captivated, chanting and clapping along to the tune.

"Surreal" is how coaches, club chiefs and players feel about Sandro's arrival.

For the 35-year-old, a slightly out-of-tune song sung with team-mates and the laughs that came with it are all part of why he has returned to the game.

"I missed football," Sandro said.

"Football has helped me, my family and my friends, and if I can get one more or two more games to enjoy then it's an honour."

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."