Brazil are back in action Thursday, when they play their first match in the South American under-20 championship -- the Selecao's first truly competitive fixture since last year's World Cup debacle.
And it is not only at senior level that Brazil are looking for redemption. Their last under-20 campaign, two years ago, was an unmitigated disaster.
Brazil went into the 2013 tournament as reigning World Champions at the level. But in 2013 in Argentina they did not even qualify for the World Youth Cup. They did not make it through to the decisive second round of the continental qualifiers. In their group of five teams (which also featured Peru, Uruguay, Ecuador and Venezuela), they managed to finish in fifth place due to goal differential -- a failure which, inevitably, led to a shakeup.
One of the most interesting aspects of this year's competition, taking place in Uruguay, will be the work of Brazil's new youth supremo, coach Alexandre Gallo. A midfielder in his playing days, Gallo comes across as a rare innovative and globalised figure in Brazil's current coaching fraternity. After spending some time preparing this team, it will be fascinating indeed to see what he comes up with.
If Brazil cannot look back on the 2013 South American under-20 championship with any pleasure, the same is emphatically not true of one of their opening-day opponents. Chile's Cristian Cuevas was one of the sensations of the tournament. I selected him as one of the players of the competition for World Soccer magazine.
"Dazzling young talent on the left of Chile's 4-2-3-1 formation," I wrote. "Has a sweet left foot, is a fluid and elusive dribbler and can combine in reduced space. Faded towards the end of the competition, but he is young enough to feature in the next one."
And, indeed, here he is, back again, once more wearing the No. 15 shirt. Now 19, the logical expectation is that Cuevas is considerably better than he was two years ago. One would hope that a promising youngster would be making huge progress between the ages of 17 and 19. Has this happened in the case of Cuevas? His displays over the next few weeks will make for an interesting test case.
After his success in Argentina two years ago, Cuevas went back to his club side, O'Higgins of Rancagua, where then-coach Eduardo Berizzo soon found a place for him in the team. A switch was made to a defensive line of four, with Cuevas coming in at left-back. It was by no means his natural position -- he is more of an attacking talent. Berizzo wanted his full-backs to push forward, but even so, the position obliged him to work on the defensive side of the game. Also, crucially, he was getting valuable first-team experience -- a crucial part in any youngster's development.
But in the middle of the year, that process was interrupted. Cuevas was sold to Chelsea in England -- a team where, for the foreseeable future, he would not have the slightest chance of making it onto the team-sheet.
Cuevas was loaned to Vitesse in Holland, where he spent a few months in the reserves before being loaned on once more to PSV Eindhoven. There, he at least had a chance to get an occasional game in the first team, but did not do enough to win a regular place -- so last year Chelsea loaned him back home to join Santiago giants Universidad de Chile. The club won the domestic league title last month, but Cuevas watched most of the campaign from the bench.
Unhappily, this is not an uncommon tale. In hindsight, it surely would have been better for him to have stayed at O'Higgins for longer, picking up experience and, bit by bit, getting accustomed to the pressures of first-team football, becoming a more important member of the side and gradually receiving more responsibility.
But, so often, the modern world has no time for "gradual." Instead, one of the world's richest clubs comes in with an offer -- and it is hard to refuse. But for Chelsea, Cuevas is just another gamble. Buy him, loan him, try him out, and maybe the club can get a return on him, either as a player or as an asset to be sold on. If it doesn't work, no problem -- there are plenty of other gambles to be taken.
For Cuevas, though, the stakes are much higher. This is the only career he has. The premature move, while initially attractive, carries an obvious risk. He was special at O'Higgins -- a precious stone to be smoothed into shape. But when he jumps into Chelsea's shopping trolley he becomes just one more asset. No longer in the first team at any level, where players learn most, the clear danger is that his career can lose momentum. And given the restricted shelf life of a footballer, that is a serious problem.
Maybe over the next few weeks in Uruguay, Cristian Cuevas can show that these fears need not apply, and that the promise he showed two years ago remains intact.