The faces of 22 youngsters from Qatar, Jordan, Pakistan and Nepal are painted for eternity on a bustling favela wall in Brazil.

The videos and photographs of these teenagers -- all Generation Amazing (GA) ambassadors of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) -- playing football and experiencing Capoeira art in the Sao Paolo favela are also captured on their smartphones.

Yet iconic Brazilian footballer Cafu doesn't need physical reminders of the day Generation Amazing – the SC's global outreach initiative to achieve generational change through the power of football – came to his hometown at the height of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™. The memories of his brief stint with the GA ambassadors will stay with him forever.

Two-time World Cup winner Cafu was the guest of honour when the GA team visited his foundation in the summer of 2014. In the heartland of his home, Cafu dedicates his life giving the kids of his neighbourhood access to opportunities he never had the luxury of experiencing.

Speaking exclusively to www.sc.qa at the United Nations in New York recently, Cafu reflected on the power that football can have on youth and the lasting impact GA had on him.

He said: "Being involved with Generation Amazing was an amazing experience. It was such a different experience for both sides and something that brought great joy to everyone involved.

"I hope that the kids involved in the experience liked it even more than I did because the game is about the youth. These generations are the future.

"Football empowers communities and young people. It's such an important tool to build the future. The World Cup is the perfect example. It's an amazing tool for development and when you host a World Cup, it multiplies the power because it unites other nations.

"For kids all over the world to experience that is something special."

With 142 Selecao appearances, the former Brazil captain is his nation's most capped player. With 21 appearances in the FIFA World Cup™, the two-time winner (1994 and 2002) and once runner-up (1998) in football's showpiece competition is considered the greatest player of his generation.

For everything he has achieved in a glittering career that took him from the backstreets of Brazil to the chic of the San Siro, the former Roma and AC Milan right-back admits nothing can top the experience of playing in the World Cup.

"It means everything to play in the World Cup," Cafu stated. "To lift the World Cup is almost indescribable. It is the pinnacle for every player in the world.

"It means everything. It is the recognition for all your struggles and sacrifices throughout your life; throughout your career.

"From 200 million Brazilians I had the honour and privilege to lift that cup. We were symbols of the dreams of our people and that was simply the greatest feeling I have experienced."

That weight of expectation is something the young players of Qatar will carry with them in 2022. From Cafu's experience, it should not be weighing them down but helping them soar into history as the country prepares to host the first FIFA World Cup™ in the Middle East.

All he asks of the country's young stars is to embrace the challenge and dedicate themselves completely to having their names written in Qatar's history.

He added: "The players have to just work hard and stay focussed. The journey they are on will be the greatest of their life. They have to just keep working.

"They have to simply commit to the shirt of their country. Commit, commit, commit… that's all I can say.

"There is still a long time to go but it's going to be an amazing World Cup, just as it was in South Africa and Brazil."