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Dirt pitches, dodging dogs and choosing Chelsea - the making of Estevao

BBC News·7 months ago
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He shifts his weight, a sway of the hips, one touch, another, a slight change of direction - and he is gone. A move that has become increasingly familiar. It lasts only a fraction of a second, but inside those movements lies an entire story of personality, identity and obstacles overcome. And one of its first chapters began on a dirt pitch in the interior of Brazil, about 250 miles (400km) from Sao Paulo. In the city of Franca, a three-year-old Estevao was already trying to join a local football school. The problem was that the youngest age group started at five. His father, Ivo Goncalves, asked the owner for a chance - and that was how Sergio Freitas, known as Serginho, gave Estevao the first football opportunity of his life. "When Estevao got on the ball it was astonishing, it wasn't normal," Serginho told BBC Sport. "He already had close control, the ability to run with it, something he still does today.…

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