Fútbolita

After their irmãos lost to Ghana in the painful U-20 World Cup final last week, Lucho Nizzo’s kids are raring to go and win the U-17 World Cup in Nigeria, which kicks off tomorrow! We could probably call them fetos (fetuses) for now, but Coutinho doesn’t look like one, so we’d best find another name. 

Anyway, guess who’s coming to help these meninos? Santos wanderkid.. Neymar!

“There’s no doubt the experience we’ve gained with our clubs has been important and has helped us a lot,” he said. “What we have to do now, though, is put all that into practice and help A Seleção win the title back.”

“The players watched almost all of the U-20 team’s matches and I’m sure they realised that in tournaments like that it’s not always the best team that wins,” added coach Nizzo, whose team experienced earthquakes at the last U-17 tournament. “It was a shame Brazil lost (the U-20) but I hope my players were able to take some positive conclusions from it, especially the way that little details can make all the difference in the group phases of competitions like this.”

For old times sake, here’s a video of the 1997 U-17 squad. Enjoy The Dinho’s high-pitched celebratory message!