The Under-12 kids at the YSC Sports facility in Wayne, Penn., about a 30-minute drive west of downtown Philadelphia, were suspicious of the rumors surrounding their coach. The whispers got louder and, finally, at the end of practice, they peppered him with questions about his credentials. They were all variations on a theme.



“You really played with Cristiano?”



Kleberson — as he does for the majority of our chat — lets out an infectious laugh while recounting the story.



“They have the technology now, so when they got home, they looked up the clips online,” he said, “and at the next training session they’d come and say, ‘Coach, you did play with Cristiano. You’re not a liar!’



“We had a tournament in Brazil recently, and we sometimes get all the kids together for a meeting. And I could see two guys watching my highlights from when I was with Flamengo and the...