Former Middlesbrough boss Bryan Robson made a flying visit to local Brazilian Soccer School at VIDA Teesside for a training session with Head Coach Richie Allan last week.

Robson was attracted to the Brazilian Soccer School due to the obvious dedication there is to help young players become more skilful and intelligent when playing football. What makes it stand out is the way they train as they use the Brazilian game Futebol de Sal£o which uses a smaller ball that does not bounce meaning the players have to show more ability in ball control. This is what makes the Brazilian team that cut above the rest.

Simon Clifford, the man responsible for bringing Futebol de Sal£o to the UK invited Robson to visit the Brazilian Soccer School as he believes if it were not for him British Football may have not moved forward like it has with the aid of our Brazilian players.

He said: "With all the current hype surrounding Brazilian Footballers in Britain you may ask where it has come from. In a sense Rob should take some of the credit. He was the man who took calculated risks and signed players such as Juninho and Emerson when many believed that Brazilian players would not be able to fit into our game."

Robson is a keen believer in Brazilian Football and was extremely impressed with the work that Simon has done.

The former Boro boss said: "It makes absolute sense to train our young generation of footballers the same was as the Brazilian as they have obviously got it right. I really do believe that this type of training will ensure that the next Juninho or Ronaldinho is home grown."