Cairo Santos grew up in Brasilia. His childhood was typical of Brazil. First came his family: mother Magalie, father Cairo Sr - a commercial pilot who became a stuntman - and his sister Talita. And after that, a close second, came football.
"I was so obsessed with soccer," he remembers. "I dreamed of playing for Brazil one day, wearing that jersey.
"Every time Brazil played in Brasilia, I went to the games. I would buy every year's jersey for Flamengo, for Brazil, and even for Chelsea."
Santos wanted to be a midfielder, like his favourite player Ronaldinho. But he had a problem. In Brazil, it is hard for an aspiring young footballer to stand out. So when he was 15, he decided to go to the United States for a year.
"Brazil is so competitive and difficult to make it," Santos says. "So my plan was to study here, learn the language and also figure out if I could stay here and play soccer in the US."
In this plan, there was no place for the strange American game which Santos had occasionally glimpsed on television, in which huge men in helmets and shoulder pads brutally smashed into each other.
"I had no intention of playing it," Santos remembers. "I was never a big guy, so I wanted to stay away from that because I didn't want to get hurt. My focus was on soccer."
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