Stars such as Luciano Vietto and Sergio Romero learned their trade in an academy built from the ground up by supporters — this is the fascinating story of Tita Mattiussi.
From Diego Maradona to Lionel Messi and the current crop of promising youngsters, led by the likes of Atletico Madrid’s Luciano Vietto and Angel Correa, and Paulo Dybala in Juventus, Argentina is an enviable production line of football talent.
When you picture the conditions in which these prodigious talents hone their skills, the romantic image of the potrero, a piece of wasteland filled with hungry youths fighting it out in improvised matches out in the impoverished peripheral neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, Rosario and other cities comes to mind.