Those approved on Saturday will proceed to the final stage of the process: three days of immersion in Xerém, in CT Vale das Laranjeiras, Fluminense’s famous talent factory
While part of the new generation dreams of becoming a streamer or influencer, another remains firm in the good old Brazilian dream: football. But this time, with a different destiny. It’s not Europe, it’s not professional, it’s a university in the United States. And this Saturday (22), in São Paulo, this dream receives its final call.
Dozens of young people — some with new boots, others with an emotional relative holding a cell phone to record everything — will compete for a place in the 2SV College Showcase, the biggest talent recruitment event for American college football. For many, it is the only chance to transform sport into education, and education into the future.
And it is no exaggeration to say that the climate must be one of decision. Worth the scholarship. Worth a career. It’s worth the life that Brazil’s numbers don’t always allow.
From dream to countryside: the path to Xerém
Those approved on Saturday will proceed to the final stage of the process: three days of immersion in Xerém, in CT Vale das Laranjeiras, Fluminense’s famous talent factory. A sacred ground for those who breathe football. This scenario alone says a lot about the strength that the movement has gained.
The choice of Xerém has a history. In June, during the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, the CEO of 2SV, Ricardo Silveira – who is not just an executive, but a well-known figure behind the scenes – acted as a FIFA representative accompanying Fluminense in South Carolina. There, between meetings, training and impromptu coffees, an unprecedented partnership was born.
Silveira showed the club the structure of American universities, the training model that combines the classroom and the pitch and, above all, a parallel route for young people who may not find space in the cruel funnel of Brazilian professional football.
“What a lot of people don’t understand”, the CEO told me, “is that there is a life and career beyond the professional. Young people don’t need to be released. They can change course and continue playing at a high level.”
Talking to him, you can see that this bridge between Brazil and the USA has become a personal mission.
What will the Showcase be like?
20 to 30 American coaches – yes, from all over the country – will be side by side with the Brazilian coaching staff. In three days, the athletes live the routine of a professional player:
- physical tests,
- technical assessments,
- full games broadcast live,
- feedback individual,
- accommodation, food and monitored routine.
It’s practically a university Combine on Brazilian soil.
And, depending on performance, the prize can be huge: scholarships of up to 100% in schools and universities in the USA, where the athlete trains, studies and, often, gains more structure than they would have at the base of an average Brazilian club.
The data that speaks loudest
At the 2024 Showcase, held in Porto Feliz, the result surprised even those who are already accustomed to this market: 76 kids evaluated, 80% aroused interest, 37 received full scholarship offers.
It’s more opportunity than many official club screens offer.
And we’re not talking about a distant dream: these are young people who today compete in university championships in the USA, study engineering, administration, physiotherapy, and still play football in a full stadium on the weekend.
The new frontier of Brazilian football
The movement is still viewed with curiosity by many Brazilian managers, who still see American college football as something “alternative”. But the truth is that it is growing at a rapid pace, and the partnership with Fluminense only reinforces this.
With clubs rivaling training centers for MLS clubs, million-dollar scholarships and international visibility, the USA has become a real destination – not just for Neymar to party in the summer, but for kids to build careers.
And Saturday will be another chapter of that.
If you go there, you will see:
There’s a boy with a sparkle in his eyes.
There are nervous fathers pretending that they are not.
There’s a mother praying quietly.
And it has all the energy of a country that still finds its great avenue of hope in football.
Saturday is decision day.
And, for many, it could be the first step to crossing the ocean with boots on their feet and a diploma on the horizon.
This is the kind of story worth following.
