Twenty years have passed since Jan van Troos set out in the rain on a Saturday afternoon to pursue a tip which came his way about a six-year-old in the village of Drongen.
The scout did not know the boy's name but it soon became clear enough as a blond child clipped passes out of the puddles of a quagmire pitch.
'It was the force out of his legs when he passed the ball,' said Van Troos. 'The better players you see at that age are not always the ones who dribble around three or four players.