The aim of this article is to analyze a time in the life stories of two Brazilian teenagers who were trialed in an important European football association in the 1990s. The stories, which had different endings, had a common start: the Nova Geração football school. We analyze interviews (with one of these teenagers, with other young players, and with Cacá, the coach of the football school) and also some articles of Brazilian newspapers about both players. The results indicate that leading a boy to become a professional football player, especially in the lower classes, is a family project. The selection and training of the new talents demands their presence in strict training programs in football clubs. In this context, it becomes difficult to conciliate sport life and school.
formal school; new talents; football schools; teenagers