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For the past few years an annual conference of coaches has been held in December in Rio de Janeiro. This year's star turn was Jurgen Klinsmann.
It was his second time at the conference and two years ago he spoke on how he was rebuilding the German national team, with a cultural sensitivity and a clarity of exposition that makes me suspect that England have missed out on a potentially wonderful candidate to succeed Steve McClaren.
This year he was back, and gave a lecture which some hardened people in Brazilian football described as the best they had ever seen.
His subject was what he described as the fifth dimension in player development. The traditional four areas which footballers work on are technical, tactical, physical and psychological. Ignored, especially in a career where players start young and have little formal instruction, is personal development.
Klinsmann said he wished when he was a player he had received advice and input beyond 'run here or run there, score here or score there.'
The point he was making was in his view the coach has a responsibility to improve every individual player, including in their development off the field.
606: DEBATE
He gave one example with special resonance for the audience he was addressing. The vast majority of Brazilian players want to move abroad, he said.
So the coaches have a responsibility to prepare them for this experience, especially by stimulating the players to learn another language.
Klinsmann's advice is simple, practical - and grows more necessary by the day.
He says when he left his native Germany to join Inter Milan he was 'barely ready' - and he was 24 at the time.
Nowadays there are not many South American players prepared to wait so long for their dream move across the Atlantic. The global market is full of forces pulling the players to Europe before they are up to the challenge.
Their club might desperately need money in order to pay last month's salaries. Or the club may have already sold the player's registration to a consortium who are looking for a quick return on their investment. Then there is the agent eagerly anticipating his percentage of the deal.
And also to be factored into this is the anxiety of the player himself. Klinsmann stresses today's players are completely different from those of his generation, the principal reason being the pace of technological change.
When I arrived in Brazil in 1994, communication with friends in England took at least two weeks - one for a letter to make it across the Atlantic, one for the reply to travel back. Some 13 years later and there are people who consider e-mail too slow!
But there is a downside to this extraordinary progress. In a world of instant solutions the idea of 'process' can easily be lost. Instead of building a career step by step the youngster imagines himself scaling the heights right from the start, with all the lifestyle perks this entails.
From the point of the European club this is not too much of a problem. Because the player is young and unproven the fee is relatively low. If the gamble does not come off, then little has been lost and there are plenty more fish in the sea.
From the point of view of the player the terms of the gamble end up looking very different. This is the only career he has - if he is not sufficiently mature, if he fails to do himself justice, if he loses all momentum being loaned out or left on the bench or in the stands, he will never have that time again.
Given that players will surely continue to make early moves from the periphery to the centre of football's globalised economy, Klinsmann's advice is of great importance.
A player who is unable to communicate, he says, is like a flower that is unable to bloom. Equipped from the start with some language skills, South America's players will be better able to display their full tropical colours.
You can put your questions to Tim Vickery every week on the World Football Phone-in on Radio 5 Live's Up All Night programme from 0230 to 0400 GMT every Saturday. You can also download last week's World Football Phone-in Podcast.
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YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Got a question about South American football for Tim Vickery? Email him at vickerycolumn@hotmail.com
I have been hearing good things about an Argentinean midfielder called Damian Escudero at Velez Sarsfield. I haven't had the opportunity to watch him play so just wondered if you could let me know how good you think he is, and what are the prospects of him moving to a big European team.
Shenif Najak, London
I think he's terrific, a left footed midfielder with drive, dynamism, technical ability and the capacity to get on the scoresheet.
I couldn't understand why Liverpool went with Sebastian Leto rather than Escudero if they were looking for a left sided midfielder from Argentina, because I see Escudero adapting better - on the field at least. He's only 20, so time is on his side, but he is a player who is surely bound for Europe.
Seeing as Anderson at Man Utd is currently playing so well, what are the chances of him getting back into the Brazil team soon?
He was touted as a second striker when he arrived at United, but is now playing in central midfield. He seems better going forward than the likes of Mineiro and Gilberto Silva, whilst still offering great protection for the defence, as seen at Liverpool and Arsenal recently.
Matt Tebbutt
I've gone on and on about this recently, but as this is one of my obsessions and I think it's important so I'll take the opportunity to go on some more.
Nowadays Brazil produces great players in all areas of the pitch bar central midfield - despite having a magnificent tradition in this position. No one of sane mind would choose Gilberto Silva and Mineiro in a world eleven.
I recently saw former Brazil coach Vanderley Luxemburgo argue that Brazilian football was prostituting its own characteristics by selecting runners and markers in central midfield where they used to select talent.
Yes, it does allow the full backs to push forward, but this can be predictable, and as some of the recent performances have shown, it can be a waste of Kaka, Ronaldinho and Robinho if the likes of Gilberto Silva are unable to circulate the ball with quality.
Now along comes Anderson, shining at Manchester United in a role that no one in Brazil anticipated him filling. Will Brazil be brave enough to use him in this position? It certainly seems worth a try.
I think coach Dunga is aware that he has a problem in this zone of the field - it's interesting that he voted for Pirlo of Italy in FIFA's player of the year election, because this is exactly the type of player Brazil have been lacking.
A while back he had a long look at the elegant Dudu Cearense of CSKA Moscow, but seemed to conclude, as the previous regime had done, that the player was uncomfortable with the defensive duties.
Hernanes of Sao Paulo is looking like a promising option, and with no competitive matches until June Dunga now has a wonderful chance to experiment - I think it would be a real missed opportunity if he doesn't test out Anderson in central midfield in the friendlies Brazil have lined up in the first half of 2008.
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