Grow a Brazileroo

[Croatia123]

"Lucas Neill releases to Tim Cahill, who skips past his man and crosses to the back post and Julio Silva scores a brilliant header to give the Socceroos the lead."

The prospect of a Brazilian spearheading the Socceroos' attack isn't as silly as it sounds with the samba influence sweeping the A-League.

There are 13 Brazilians on the books of A-League clubs - Juninho's Sydney debut was encouraging, Daniel dazzled in Wellington and Cassio will be a hit in Adelaide. But let's get someone world class who will be able to pull on the national team shirt.

Why doesn't an A-League club sign a supremely-gifted young attacker (preferably a striker, between say 17 and 22) with a view to gain-ing Australian citizenship?

Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva, who narrowly missed out on Croatia's 2006 World Cup squad, is anchoring their Euro 2008 campaign.

He was born in Brazil but moved to Croatia as a 15-year-old. He took up Croatian nationality in time to represent the under-21 team where he scored eight goals and his senior record is an impressive eight in 14.

Brazilians Deco (Portugal), Alessandro Santos (Japan), Zinha (Mexico), Marcos Senna (Spain) and Francileudo dos Santos (Tunisia) all represented their adopted nations at the 2006 World Cup.

The Brazilian Football Confederation estimates around 850 Brazilians per year leave their homeland for Europe and Asia.

Some have represented Brazil's national team but most are well back in a queue headed by Ronaldinho, Kaka, Ronaldo and Adriano.

A-League clubs can use the carrot of the World Cup to lure a future star, as Tunisia's Francileudo alluded to before last year's tournament. "You must understand my ambition to play in big tournaments," he said. "There was no chance I'd play for Brazil. Tunisia offered an alternative and I would never have forgiven myself if I had not taken it."

So how do we go about it? The key is identifying someone who is good enough and then ensuring they want to come. A gun 20 to 22-year-old should tear the A-League apart but like Fred - who said he wanted to play for the Socceroos before signing for DC United weeks later - he's more likely to be poached by an overseas club with deep pockets.

It shouldn't take too long to be granted citizenship, so why not get more Brazilian bang for your buck? A teenager would be perfect and by their mid to late teens they would have a fair idea of whether or not they're in the picture when it comes to Brazil's junior national teams, similar to Eduardo.

Sign the kid young, on a long-term deal with a view to becoming the club's marquee to keep the sharks at bay.

The proven country-swapping formula is signing a player in his mid-teens, so the key is the formation of the national youth league to blood the kid - although in truth a player of that pedigree shouldn't take too long to make the top grade.

And why not ask Football Australia for a subsidy if you have a compelling case?

Call it un-Australian, but we're in it to win. We whinge about Croatia poaching. Lets get street-smart ourselves.