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The Little Fella is set to be a big noise in Brazilian football after being handed a key role in the national set up.

Boro icon Juninho has been appointed as the new director of football development by the CBF, the Brazilian FA.

Juninho was yesterday named as the man to take charge of youth development and the grassroots game as part of what new CBF president Rogério Caboclo promised would be a ‘revolution’.

Juninho, now 46, will be asked to oversee a new system of academies at Brazilian professional clubs and also the construction of a huge new Football Development Centre in Rio de Janeiro.

The dreamweaver became a Teesside legend with three spells at the club between 1995 and 2004 in which he played in the FA Cup and League Cup finals in 1997 and the Carling Cup triumph at Cardiff.

Since leaving football he has carved out a reputation as a shrewd football administrator after becoming president of his first club Ituano.

He transformed their off the field set-up and finances and after appointing former Boro team-mate Doriva to the manager’s job he guided them from the Sao Paolo regional set-up to the national top flight.

He has taken a keen interest in technical development and training and in 2013 visited the FA set-up at Ste George's Park to take notes.

And it was the lessons learned in that journey that caught the eye of the powers that be in Brazilian football.

“I completed 10 years as a football administrator in June,” said delighted Juninho after yesterday’s announcement.

“I learned in those years that the simpler and more objective your football work, the better the outcome.

“We want to rescue the essence of our football, the love my generation had in representing Brazilian football.

“To do this, looking at grassroots football is essential, following the development of the athletes and who develops them.”

New president Cabocio aims to rationalise the complex structure of Brazilian football, reduce the number of games and try to stabilise the often erratic finances.

On his new role for the Boro favourite he said: “Juninho represents what we want for Brazilian football.

“He is a winner on and off the field. An example of seriousness and professionalism. A world champion with the Brazilian team, idol of the clubs in which he played and with a solid career as an administrator.”

Juninho will also sit on a new ‘Council of Stars’ that will oversee the entire structure of Brazilian football.

The group also includes prominent former players like Cafu, Jairzinho, Careca and Gilberto Silva plus ex-manager Carlos Alberto Parreira.