Twin brothers Samuel and Vinícius live dream with Brazil U17 | OneFootball

Making the Brazilian National Team a family is the dream of any player. For Samuel, right-back of the Brazil U-17 team, with five call-ups to the Seleção in his career, that dream came a little closer with a “Christmas present”: in the capital of Rio Grande do Norte, he welcomed his twin brother, midfielder Vinícius, called up for the first time. The duo is now working toward the friendlies against the United States, which mark the first stage of the team’s preparation for the World Cup in the category.

This situation is unprecedented in the Brazil U-17 team and had only happened once before in the Seleção’s youth ranks, with the U-20 team, when center-backs Lucas and Luan Freitas were called up together.

Like good identical twins, Samuel and Vinícius are used to sharing many things in life: their looks, the way they speak, joys, and dreams for the future. Now, they also share a room during the Brazil camp, a moment eagerly awaited by their parents, Vanda and Carlos Eduardo, the biggest supporters of their sons’ football careers.

Samuel in action in Brazil’s 3-0 win over Argentina in this year’s South American ChampionshipCredits: Nelson Terme / CBF

Samuel, who already has more experience with the national team, was also looking forward to the moment: he has five call-ups, including participation in this year’s South American Championship, where Brazil finished in third place. Now it is Vinícius’s turn. And he says he was not even expecting it.

“I wasn’t expecting it. I was in the room with him (Samuel) and my parents. Then a teammate from my club called me. It was happiness, a truly unique feeling. My dad went crazy, seriously. My mom too. They really exploded with joy,” Vinícius recalls.

Although Samuel was the one who opened the doors to the national team, he says it was not exactly like that in childhood.

“I’ll give him some credit. He was always picked first. Left-footed, you know?” Samuel jokes.

“If he’s saying it, then it was me,” Vinícius adds humbly.

Vinícius says he was not expecting the call-up and was informed by a club teammate that he was on Patetuci’s listCredits: Guilherme Drovas / STAFF IMAGES / CBF

The ball was always the favorite toy of the duo, born in São Caetano do Sul, São Paulo. During childhood, football was fun, and both say they wanted to play further forward to score goals. Their first football experience came at the Alviceleste academy. A curious start for players who today represent Atlético-MG.

Their understanding of positioning only came with the development of their skills. At the age of seven, they joined São Caetano’s futsal team, where they met coach Robson, the first to identify the areas of the field where they performed best.

Robson then took them to São Paulo, where they played from ages seven to 13. There was also a brief spell at Referência, until the duo arrived at Cidade do Galo and joined Atlético-MG’s youth ranks, where they became Brazilian champions in the category in 2025.

Now wearing the most successful shirt in the world, the brothers have shown commitment in training to make a good start to their preparation for the World Cup and are aiming for wins against the United States in the preparatory friendlies.

Right-back Samuel during the U-17 team’s preparation in NatalCredits: Guilherme Drovas / Staff Images / CBF

“We are preparing very well, the whole group is united, and I think we are going to play two great friendlies. We’re going to come out victorious,” predicts the debutant.

Already more used to dealing with the pressure of the national team, Samuel also speaks about the experience of facing a team from outside South America, without hiding his desire to be in Qatar for the World Cup at the end of the year.

And, knowing that 22 of the 26 players called up by coach Carlo Ancelotti for this year’s World Cup came through Brazil’s youth national teams, he understands that he and his brother are in the right place to dream big.

“That gives us an extra chance to be in the senior national team in the future, right? We have to work here to get there. Seeing that the people who came through the youth teams are now in the senior squad shows both of us that, if we work hard, we can get there,” Samuel projected.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.