The stadium wasn’t much to speak of, a municipal bowl an hour outside of Sao Paulo quite run down. And it was raining, which was an unpromising start. The team playing was the Under 20s of Ituano, then a fourth division club in Brazil.
But any global football scout worth his salt will take in the Taca Sao Paulo in January every year, an Under 20 tournament for the pro teams in the region. Given that the city itself has a population of 12 million, there is no more fertile conurbation in the world for young football talent.