As Palmeiras and Oeste finished their warm-ups on 19 January, scouts from Barcelona, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Southampton, Ajax and Benfica all took their seats ready for the quarter-finals of the Copa Sao Paulo, Brazil’s premier youth competition.
They were mostly there to watch Endrick. The 15-year-old striker had taken the under-21 tournament by storm, having scored four goals up to that point and making an even bigger impact than Brazil and Paris St-Germain star Neymar did at the same age.
Not even in their wildest dreams could they have anticipated, though, what they were about to see.
In the 13th minute the ball dropped behind the Palmeiras wonderkid and, without giving it much thought, he produced a bicycle kick from outside the box which dipped perfectly into the net.
“I think we might be seeing a very special talent emerging,” said Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker.
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