Chapter 4 – The Switch
The bus ride to São Paulo was longer than Thiago expected. Eight hours of cracked roads, changing landscapes, and the occasional stretch of silence that made his thoughts echo too loud inside his head.
He sat by the window, the business card still tucked into his pocket like a lifeline.
Clara had hugged him so tight that morning he nearly missed the bus. His mom didn’t say much—just handed him a bag with some clothes, a used toothbrush, and a single ten-real note folded so carefully it looked like it would fall apart.
"Don’t come back without proving them wrong," she’d said.
He didn’t plan to.
The Palmeiras academy wasn’t like anything Thiago had ever seen.
The moment he stepped off the bus, it hit him—green grass so clean it looked painted, buildings that didn’t lean, and players who walked like they belonged here. Even the air felt different. Thinner. Sharper.
"Name?" the man at the gate asked.
"Thiago. Thiago Luis da Silva. From Rocinha."
The man scanned a clipboard, nodded, and pointed toward the dorms.
"Room 204. You’re with the other new entrants. Trial starts tomorrow."