Global Fútbol

Through a new partnership in Brazil, young talent in the South American country are being presented with a new opportunity to be discovered, potentially opening the door to a career in Spanish football.

LaLiga has partnered with sports marketing specialists Grupo LX to create new scouting programmes that will help to strengthen football across the country. Its first initiative is a reality TV show called Bravo! that will be aimed at teenagers between 16 and 19 years of age looking for a career in the game. Through a series of programmes broadcast via ESPN, the best prospects will be selected to travel to Spain and train with LaLiga academy teams.

Featuring LaLiga trained coaches, league ambassadors and former stars of the competition, 900 players will be given the opportunity to learn the LaLiga style of play while also receiving TV exposure.

Beginning with trials at the programme’s training centre in Sorocaba, São Paulo, the players will then be reduced to a group of 78. These players will then be divided into six teams that will compete in a knockout tournament, with a trip to Spain on offer for the winners.

To provide further inspiration and spectacle, these six teams will be assisted by Brazilian football legends Denilson, Edmilson, Djalminha, Ze Roberto, Cáfu and Luis Fabiano, all of whom have appeared in LaLiga during their careers. This team will be led by Fernando Sanz, director of international institutional relations and the LaLiga ambassadors and legends programme.

“Bravo! Will be a platform for the development of new stars and an opportunity for young people to reach their full potential,” said Dayyán Morandi, CEO of Grupo LX. “Beyond this, the partnership between Grupo LX and LaLiga is an opportunity for us to develop projects that will enable Brazilian players to continue featuring in the best football league in the world.”

Creating a grassroots programme that lasts
Having worked with internationals like Real Madrid’s Marcelo, Grupo LX has expertise in supporting Brazilian footballers make a successful transition into Spanish football. However beyond supporting individual players it is focused on sustainable football programmes for everyone.

"Grupo LX and LaLiga designed this project to demonstrate to the Brazilian soccer industry the importance of professionalising grassroots football,” continued Morandi. “We need to attract investment, train professionals and develop new management methods to help access to professional football across all categories.”

LaLiga’s sports projects department will be heavily involved in this process and has assigned expert coaches to the country to help build the most robust programme possible. These coaches will be responsible for the selection process of the Bravo! show and will then train successful applicants in LaLiga’s unique methodology, which is created in Madrid and then refined in collaboration with local trainers.

Since launching its international coaching initiative in 2015 LaLiga has sent over 500 Spanish coaches to work on long-term sporting projects across India, China, the USA, the Middle East, Indonesia and even the Solomon Islands, helping to grow the international brand of the competition through sharing a football philosophy.

Finding the next Brazilian superstar
Brazilian players have a rich history in LaLiga. There are currently more than 20 Brazilians in LaLiga Santander and many more have starred for Spanish clubs over the years. The likes of Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos, Filipe Luís and Luís Fabiano have caused fans from the South American nation to fall in love with clubs such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Sevilla over the years and their performances in Spain have inspired new generations of Brazilian youngsters.

Estimates suggest that there are over 30 million football players in Brazil. Alongside the country’s significant footballing history, the prospect of developing new playing talent here presents a significant opportunity for LaLiga clubs.

As LaLiga’s representative in Brazil Albert Castelló explained: “LaLiga is a competition where Brazilian talent shines. Thanks to this partnership with Grupo LX we will further strengthen the connection that exists between LaLiga and Brazil. With Bravo! we want to contribute to the development of sport and entertainment for all.”

Registration for the programme is available through the competition website and requires youngsters to complete a short quiz and upload videos of their footballing talent.