I’m learning English from AC/DC... & I’m about to rock!

SKATE-MAD SCARPA’S FOREST PLEDGE

Nottingham Forest v Leeds Tomorrow, 2pm

BY NEIL MOXLEY

MEET Gustavo Scarpa – one part of Nottingham Forest’s ‘Cooper-cabana’.

The Brazilian forward is part of a Samba quartet that has been assembled at the City Ground during the January window.

Scarpa is some character. By day, he is charged with helping

Forest find goals.

But then he puts away his training gear and heads for a skate park, wave park, or church, or reads some surrealist or classic literature.

All after learning his English from listening to rock bands such as The Who, Led Zeppelin and AC/DC (above, inset).

And, obviously for such an enigmatic personality, his American accent comes from Central Perk, not the Copacabana.

Scarpa, 29, introduced himself to the Nottingham public on social media by being pictured on his skateboard travelling through the city centre.

He said: “When I got here, the boss Steve Cooper asked me if I had my skateboard. I’m allowed to – but not inside the ground. I did my research on skate and wave parks after learning I was signing and the first one I saw was full.

“I thought, ‘This is great’ and from that moment it was easy to join Forest – I’m just kidding. The guys at the park didn’t recognise me. But, like in Brazil, they’re not big football fans.

“They were like, ‘OK, you’re a Forest player… nice to meet you’ and then when I start to skate, then they get excited.”

And his English? “My father, Jose, is a rock ’n’ roll guy,” added Scarpa. “I listened to rock music with him. His favourite bands are The Who, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and AC/DC.

“I also watched

Friends (right), that’s why I have an American accent. I watched it several times.

All the seasons.

“At the beginning it was hard, then it became easier to understand the jokes.”

And what about his reading habits? “That’s my father again,” he said. “He always encouraged me and my sister to read a lot and when I became a Christian in 2009, I got a lot of interest learning about the bible.

“Then a friend of mine introduced me to this new world, which included Franz Kafka and Victor Hugo – you know, Les Miserables – and my aunt gave me Steve Jobs’ book. It opened my mind and then I started reading Dostoyevsky.”

Scarpa (above) has told his wife that they will be going to a Brazilian church one week and an English one the next because: “I came here to enjoy this – to enjoy this adventure. And I’ve told the Brazilian boys I won’t be hanging out with them all the time.”

So, what about football? “It’s different,” he said. “Ninety percent of the fouls that would be called a foul in Brazil, aren’t given over here.

“Yellow cards there, are not even fouls here.

“This is the hardest thing to adapt to. But I think I can handle it.”

Yes, with a whole lotta love from his new flock, it should be a stairway to heaven for him at the

City Ground.