He grew up in a shelter for underprivileged children, played soccer in the streets and impressed scouts with his slick moves at a tournament for the homeless.
Now, in a rags-to-riches story straight out of Hollywood, Tiago Correia has been catapulted onto the international stage. He has been offered a contract by one of soccer's giants - Manchester United.
In the space of a few weeks, the 20-year-old Portuguese player has gone from obscurity to the ''Theatre of Dreams,'' as United's Old Trafford stadium is known.
''It's a dream come true,'' he says.
Correia is better known by his nickname ''Bebe,'' which means baby in Portuguese. Until two months ago, he was still living in the shelter that has been his home for the past 10 years.
If he passes a medical to complete his move to Manchester United, Bebe will tread the same path as Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani, who went from Portuguese clubs to Old Trafford. His new English Premier League teammates will include Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov.
''It is a fairytale when you read about his background,'' Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said Friday. ''But it is one of those things that happens when you identify someone with potential.''
Ferguson reportedly met with Bebe during a visit to Lisbon this week to testify at a misconduct hearing for former assistant Carlos Queiroz, who coaches Portugal's national team.
The Portuguese first division club Vitoria Guimaraes bought Bebe two months ago from second division Estrela Amadora, reportedly paying $64,000. Man United has paid a reported $11.5 million to Guimaraes, a club whose budget this season is only $14 million.
''He's a player we've been following, but he really came on the scene in the last week or so,'' Man United chief executive David Gill said. ''It's exciting. He's a potential player, and a lot of Manchester United's focus is about getting players who have the potential.''
The Red Devils had to strike quickly: Guimaraes president Emilio Macedo said four major European clubs were considering bids for Bebe.
Sudden celebrity and generous salaries can be disorienting for young players. But Arsenio Isidoro, a priest who helps run the Casa do Gaiato home where Bebe grew up, said he's not worried because the player has shown himself to be levelheaded.
''He was always a very disciplined person and a hard worker,'' Isidoro said.
He noted, however, that Bebe always complained when he had to do the dishes after meals at the institution where 80 young men and boys live.
Bebe was born in the blue-collar Cacem suburb of Lisbon. Like Man United winger Nani, his parents are immigrants from the Cape Verde islands off west Africa, a former Portuguese colony. His elder brother gave him his nickname.
At 10 he was placed in the Casa do Gaiato, which caters to children whose parents can't care for them. He started out in the youth team at a tiny club but sometimes had to miss training because of his chores.
Bebe turned heads at the European Streetsoccer Festival in Bosnia in 2008, where he was the top scorer with 40 goals in six matches. He was to have played for Guimaraes in the first division this season, which starts this weekend.
Jorge Paixao, his former coach at Estrela Amadora, said the 6-foot-2 forward is an unpolished but gritty player with a strong physique and a gift for the game. Bebe has twice played for Portugal's under-19 squad.
''He's come through street football,'' Paixao said. ''These days players tend to come up through clubs' youth teams, but he doesn't have any of that training. He's an old-style player. He learned what he knows in the street and he has a natural creativity which is a bit irreverent and sets him apart.''
