When he returned to Ajaccio after a 16-month absence in October 2004, Coach Rolland Courbis cannot have helped but look around the training ground and notice things had changed. Something felt different, something… Brazilian.

Claiming that Ajaccio were always last in line to pick up talent from the lower Leagues, President Michel Moretti had been injecting more than a hint of 'Ordem e Progresso' into the club's recruitment policy - and wily old warhorse Courbis was sceptical to say the least. "If they'd asked me about Brazilians, I'd have said three's already too many. The fact that there's more of them doesn't help them integrate. And we've got five!"

Unable to speak French, Waldir Lucas Pereira would have been forgiven for looking on and wondering what everyone was talking about. By the time Courbis replaced Dominique Bijotat early in the 2004/05 campaign, the Campinas-born frontman was the surprising frontrunner in the Ligue 1 scoring charts with six goals. Surprising because he was an unknown quantity when he signed from Brazilian outfit Portuguesa in June 2004, and surprising because his first four appearances for the Corsicans bordered on the disastrous.

"It's true that my first few games didn't go well," he said. "The marking here is really tight and you don't get any time or space. I knew people would start wondering about me." That's exactly what they did as Lucas looked to be constantly off the pace, easily brushed aside and never dangerous. A goal in the last minute of the match against Saint-Etienne in September 2004 seemed to be a trigger, however, and Lucas added another five strikes in his next four games. "You were all a bit quick to write him off, weren't you?" gloated Moretti.

"He doesn't really get involved in the play, he's just there in the box, waiting for the ball," says teammate Xavier Collin. "But when he gets it he just amazes me, and he seems to win every ball in the air." At six feet tall, Lucas is far from being a giant, and yet he scored seven of his first 10 Ajaccio goals with his head.

Even Courbis became an instant convert, willing to overlook the weaker aspects of the youngster's game: "When you really examine his goals, you notice that he never controls the ball. He's a pure finisher and who cares if he doesn't defend? We've got other players to do that."

The former Marseille boss lost his patience later in the season, though, frustrated by Lucas's dry-spell after the winter break. Interviewed after Ajaccio's excellent 3-0 win over Monaco, Courbis went on the attack: "Excuse me if I don't get carried away, but I've still got problems up front. And I don't even want to talk about Lucas." Clearly determined to succeed in France, the man in question found the back of the net barely 20 seconds into the following match with Auxerre!