The Brasileirão has always been a place where many top players shine for the first time, and whilst that isn’t happening as regularly as it used to, there are still a few young players who have impressed this season. Here are some of them: Alison (Santos, 21 years old) Unlike previous promising players at Santos, Alison is a defensive midfielder. His good positioning and tackling have seen him called up for Brazil’s Olympic team on […]
My new piece on this site is about one of the many exciting prospects who lined up for Brazil during last-year’s FIFA U17 World Cup. When you hear about that competition, you’d expect it to be Nathan who stole the show despite Brazil’s elimination in the quarter-finals, but it’s not him. Many fans of Brazilian football will know this player by now, but for those who don’t, let me introduce to you Gabriel Boschilia, a player who made […]
This weekend a revitalised São Paulo welcome campeões and league leaders Cruzeiro to Morumbi. It will undoubtedly be billed as a top of the table clash, but in reality, it probably represents the last chance for this season’s league title race to remain competitive. Around 12 months ago, Botafogo played Cruzeiro at Esádio Mineirão in very similar circumstances, with the Rio club clinging onto the tail of ‘a raposa.’ Clarence Seedorf missed a penalty with […]
There’s a certain player in Brazil, who around four years ago was regarded as the next big thing to come out of a country which is famous for producing some of the finest football prospects. ‘Next big thing’ is a term, often overused, which describes any young player who starts to show the slightest glimpse of promise, but in this case it had some substance. I’m not talking about Neymar here, but his close friend, and a player who […]
Brazil’s youth side claimed the Toulon Tournament title for the second year in a row, after a string of impressive displays culminated in a 5-2 win against France in the final. The French side brought the best out of this promising generation of Brazilians, who boast an array of talent all the way from goalkeeper to centre forward. We already know Marquinhos is destined for great things, and Dória of Botafogo has been written about […]
The 2014 Brasileirão season will be broken into two parts, thanks to the mid-season break for the World Cup. The season starts on April 19th, breaking from June 2nd to July 14th, and will come to a close on December 6th. Here’s a look at all the participants, including their aims and players to look out for. We begin, perhaps unfashionably, with a look at the clubs in the north east of Brazil, written by The […]
The 2014 version of the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, also handily known as the Copinha, kicked off last night with a total of six matches. The highlight of the opening day of this prestigious youth competition, was the match between São Paulo and Japanese visitors Kashiwa Reysol. The tournament has a history of inviting foreign teams to participate, with mixed success, and this year it’s the turn of the Japanese club whose senior side faced […]
Last night Brazil suffered another youth tournament heartbreak at the hands of Mexico, as they were beaten on penalties in the FIFA U17 World Cup quarter-final. Despite this disappointing loss, there are a few players who shone throughout the tournament for Brazil, and if they can learn from this defeat rather than be disheartened by it, the premature tournament exit could even be advantageous to them. The game against Mexico was Brazil’s first real test […]
Brazil Under 17s advanced to the Quarter finals of the FIFA U17s World Cup, after defeating 10 man Russia by three goals to one in the first knock-out game. The game remained in the balance at 0-0 until Russia’s Dimitry Barinov was sent of on the 69th minute. This gave Brazil more space in which to unleash their attacking talent and claim the win. Mosquito opened the scoring just minutes after the sending off, as […]
Brazil defeated hosts UAE in the FIFA U17s World Cup, repeating the 6-1 score line from their first game against Slovakia. The first game belonged to Atlético Paranaense duo, Nathan and Mosquito, and whilst both players but in top performances in this second group A fixture, the real stars of the show were Boschilia of São Paulo, and Gabriel of Santos. Gabriel is one of the much hyped players in this Brazil youth side, and his […]