Caio Correa in $4.7 million soccer deal
BY STEVE SHEPPARD INDEPENDENT WRITER
Caio Correa, the Nantucket all-star soccer player who moved back to Brazil to play the sport at a higher level, recently had his contract purchased by the notable Sao Paulo team for a reported $4.7 million. This means that the 17-year-old Correa is now in the system of one of the best teams in Brazil.

Correa played with the Nantucket High School varsity squad for two years, and was named an all-star both years. ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent file

Correa will most likely play for Sao Paulo's junior team to start, according to Marco Tarcitano, who coached Correa in youth soccer on Nantucket. "He'll play in his age bracket," Tarcitano said. "By next year, he'll make the professional team."

The soccer sphere the young Correa is immersed in is one of intense competition, with many levels and intense national inter- est. Being selected by Sao Paulo is a huge step for the teenager who left Nantucket less than a year and a half ago.

Correa was playing for the Volta Redonda junior team but lately, according to Tarcitano, he would sit in with the adult league and see action towards the end of games. "Every time they'd stick him in, he'd score," Tarcitano said. "Sao Paulo saw him play and bought his contract" from Volta Redonda.

Correa played with the Nantucket High School varsity for two years. He was named an all-star both years, helped his team into the state tournament in successive years and led the state in scoring his sophomore year. His prowess led to stories in the Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated.

Back in Brazil, however, Correa had to reestablish himself as a player. "He went there, and had to prove himself and it took him a while," Tarcitano noted. "He sat on the bench until the fourth or fifth game of the season."

Correa's former varsity coach, Rich Brannigan, is happy for his former star. "I think it's great, it's really exciting," he said. "Since he's left Nantucket he has done well for himself and moved up the ladder, I guess you could say."

Tarcitano believes this is only the beginning for the talented player. "I believe he's going to go all the way," he said. "He'll play for two years in Sao Paulo. In three years, he'll be playing in Europe."

Tarcitano said his son, Brian, a junior at Nantucket High School and a former teammate of Correa's, is thrilled by the news. Even before the recent signing, his son urged him to pick up Brazilian radio on satellite. "I've lived here for 20 years and I never got the Brazilian radio station through cable. We ended up getting it so we could hear Caio playing,"

he said. I