World's smallest soccer team

Gigantes do Norte - Brasil

Brazilians have long held a reputation for being the giants of football, now they can also lay claim to being the first country with a team made up entirely of dwarves.

The players may be lacking in height, but after choosing the team name Gigantes do Norte - the Giants of the North - it appears they have a generous sense of humour.

Managed by professional coach Carlos Lucena, the Giants were put together in an effort to raise the profile of dwarves in Brazilian society and challenge "sizeist" attitudes.

The average size of the team is about 4ft, while the smallest player is just 3ft 3in.

Together the 11 dwarves play in Belem, north-east Brazil, taking on youth teams in 40-minute matches.

The diminutive team use full size goals, but this hasn’t proved to be a setback for their 4ft 7in keeper who managed to keep a clean sheet in their last match, beating the opposition by 4-0.

Their friendly game was against the Barcarena under-13 team, in the Barcarenao Stadium at the mouth of the Amazon River.

As is common in the beautiful game in Brazil, the players take nicknames.

Brazilian striker Ronaldo is known as "The Phenomenon" while star player of the Giants, Cazemiro Ribeiro, is called "Vagner Love".

The smallest players in the English premier league are Tottenham Hotspur’s Aaron Lennon and Chelsea winger Shaun Wright-Phillips. Both are 5ft 5in.

Gigantes do Norte video