Lucas Piazon on growing-up in Brazil

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Lucas, 18, explained his country's passion for the beautiful game and, while he did not start playing until the age of six, he quickly was kicking a football on a daily basis.

"Every boy that is born there, the first sport that he plays is football," Lucas told the club's official website.

"I was born in Sao Paulo but when I went to school there I was very small so I didn't play football, but then I moved down to the south of the country when I was six years old and at my first school in the south I started playing. I used to also play at night with the players who were older than me. Every day I was playing football.

"We play at school, we play in the clubs and then when we go back home we mix with people who play in the street and put down two cones and play freely and have fun. In some buildings they have a small pitch with five against five and you are always playing football."

This indoor game, futsal, has been integral to the way the Brazilian gaame has developed, with the fast indoor pitch and small heavily ball encouraging fast, skillful play.

"Every boy in Brazil started in futsal - me, Oscar, David Luiz, Ramires, Neymar, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Robinho - everyone," Lucas explains.

"When we move to the big pitch it is hard because we do the first touch like this [studs down on the ball] so we get a bit confused, but now I never do this anymore, just the normal way. I still use some of the futsal techniques a bit and it is good because futsal is in a small space and that helps you when play football and there are a lot of players in a small space."

Lucas, who spent some time with the Chelsea Under-18 side that won the FA Youth Cup last campaign also took time to discuss the difference in footballing styles at academy level between the two countries - but believes a fixture between the two systems at youth level would produce an exciting match.

He added: "The difference between the academy at Chelsea and the one at Sao Paulo and the other academies in Brazil is we have many more players in Brazil. At Sao Paulo in the Under-15s you have 25 players, the Under-17s you have 25, the Under 20s, 20.

"But I think the quality doesn't change too much. The players in Brazil they like to pass more, here they are more strong so it is hard to compare because it is a different way to play - but if you played Chelsea v Sao Paulo at Under-15s or Under-17s it would be a very good game."