Brazilian attacking midfielder Kerlon shot to fame at 2005 South America Under 17 Football Championship. The younger was named the best player at the tournament and was the top scorer, and it wasn't long until he was making his professional debut in his homeland for Cruzeiro. His performances for the Brazil youth teams gained him worldwide attention before he had played even a handful of professional games, largely down to his party trick: the "seal dribble". YouTube videos of the precocious youngster running while bouncing the ball on his head gathered millions of views, and he was linked with a host of big European clubs. In the end, it was Inter who won the race for his coveted signature. By the time he ended up in Milan most opponents had figured out a simple way to stop Kerlon's seal showboating - foul him. Kerlon struggled to stay above water in Inter's bloated squad and had loan spells at Chievo and Ajax, as well as Parana and Nacional in his homeland. Frequent injuries blunted his impact and he played just 5 games across those four loan periods. After being released by Inter without having played for them, Kerlon sunk as low as the Japanese third division, signing for Fujieda MYFC and then onto Miami Dade in America and Sliema Wanderers in Malta. He's now back in Brazil with minnows Villa Nova, a far cry from the days when he wowed the world as a teenager.
David is an office drone and freelance writer for WhatCulture and Moviepilot, among others. He's also foolishly writing a serialised novel on Jukepop and has his own irregularly updated website. He's available for freelance work. Reach out on Twitter to @davefox990
