Sporting Kansas City loanee Igor Julião has questioned Brazil’s infrastructure, following their collapse at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The 19 year-old, who has represented the Seleção at under-20 level, believes Brazil is still developing talented young players, but does not have a system in place to help them harness and realise their potential.
“From a talent perspective, yes, we have some very talented players,” stated Julião, as reported by mlsoccer.com. “The problem is that talent only takes you so far, right? There have to be systems in place that take that talent and turn it into something actually productive.
“That’s what I feel is missing in our country: the systems in place, the infrastructure, the knowledge, the ability to put all that together and transform that talent into something truly magnificent like we experienced with Germany in this last World Cup.”
The Leopoldina native was signed from Fluminense in March on a loan agreement. Since arriving in Kansas, he has taken advantage of an injury to first choice right full-back Chance Myers to make 12 starts this season.
Julião is pleased to get regular playing time and notes that he has learnt more than he previously did in Brazil, due to different training setups and technology.
“I’m getting to experience and feeling of being in an infrastructure which actually supports the athlete from top to bottom,” added the teenager. “I’ve learned a lot about my body, too – things I haven’t learned in the past in Brazil – just because of different techniques and assessments and technologies that we have available here in the US that they don’t have there.
“So I’ve learned to look at myself a lot differently, and that’s definitely going to help me in my development as I go on back to Brazil or to a different league. I feel like I’ve grown tremendously since I’ve been here.”
Sporting Kansas City are currently one point clear of D.C. United, who have a game in hand, at the top of the Eastern Conference. The MLS Cup holders face Philadelphia Union next at Sporting Park on Saturday.
