The link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_football/4236746.stmAnd the article within the link ............................
Looking after the boys from Brazil
By Tim Vickery
Branco is responsible for the maintaining Brazil's talent supply
Brazil's former left-back Branco is nowadays the coordinator of his country's youth sides.
At the start of the year, at the South American Under-20 Championships in Colombia, he was proudly explaining to me the impressive structure that Brazil provide to their promising young players.
As if to prove the point, at the very moment we were talking a fax arrived from the Brazilian FA's nutritionist, and it contained the menu for that day's meals.
It had been prepared in Spanish, so Branco could hand it over to the hotel staff safe in the knowledge that there would be no confusion.
That kind of attention to detail, plus fantastic natural talent, means that at youth levels Brazil keep winning titles and funneling players through the system to the senior team.
Ronaldo, for example, first came to prominence at the South American Under-17 Championships in 1993. Four years later Ronaldinho Gaucho was world champion at that level, with Adriano following the same path in 1999.
And now the latest generation set out for glory in the World Under-17 Cup, which kicks off in Peru at the end of the week.
Watching the Brazilian superstars come through and seeing how they benefit from the experience of such competition it is hard to escape the conclusion that British football is losing out.
Surely there is something to be gained from taking Fifa's Under-17 and Under-20 tournaments more seriously?
Ronaldo and Ronaldinho are two stars produced by Brazil's production line
It is clear that these competitions have a hidden agenda. The harsh reality is that the youth development work of, for example, Brazil, is not just grooming players for the future of the senior international side - it is also preparing them for a move to European club football.
The World Under-17 and Under-20 Cups give European clubs the chance to have a close look at the emerging talent from the two continents that specialise in producing wonderful young players, Africa and South America.
The Premiership is an importer of some of this talent, and would like to do even better in terms of bringing in some of the top names of world football.
Even so, the clubs still aim to produce their own players and have their academies.
It is always worth remembering, though, that being at an academy is not an end in itself. It is a means to the end of playing better, and in the quest to play better, there surely must be a place for top-level international competition.
It provides a tactical education, an introduction to the pressures of representing one's country - and having to confront the world's best is a great way to guard against complacency.
After all, in next year's World Cup the English public will expect the players to hold their own against the likes of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho Gaucho and Adriano.
They would clearly be better prepared if they had previously faced them in a World Under-17 Cup.
