Nervous, anxious, excited. That is how the Hunter brothers described their feeling before they headed to Rio de Janeiro for a training opportunity with Botafogo.

Once the ball was in play though, the boys were back to having fun.

Frissell and Nyger Hunter are part of Georgia Olympic Development Program and rising talents in the Atlanta soccer scene. In 2012, the Hunter brothers had the chance to train with Botafogo, a top flight club in Brazil that currently employees Alex, Clarence Seedorf, and Nicolas Lodeiro.

“One of their ODP coaches, Gaucho Pinho, who is a former professional player in Brazil for Flamengo and Botafogo, contacted us because he felt that they had the talent needed to possibly sign with a Serie A youth team in Brazil,” Frissell and Nyger’s father Ivan Hunter told TopDrawerSoccer.com. “[Pinho] contacted someone at Botafogo who set up a two-week trial period last year. After getting good evaluations from their trial period, they were invited back for an extended training period.”

Prior to the trip to Brazil, the brothers were already fans of Brazil and the style of soccer that is closely associated with the South American country.

“Frissell and Nyger are big fans of Brazilian soccer,” Ivan Hunter said. “Many of their soccer idols are Brazilian. When they thought of somewhere to train and get a very rounded soccer experience, they felt Brazil was one of the best places to get that experience.”

The brothers do not have a passport for Brazil or any other but were able to train with the club as tourists.

Botafogo is not the only club to take a look at the two Americans as FC Utrecht, a top-flight club in Netherlands, also had them over.

“Holland is another great place to train because they also focus on developing great technical players,” Ivan Hunter said. “They got this opportunity through Nygers; previous coach David Eristavi, who is the Director of Coaching at Alpharetta Ambush Soccer Club.”

Frissell, born in 1998, returns to club soccer with United FA’s U18 96 Red team where he plays as the striker. Nyger lines up for GSA Premier 99 as the center midfielder.

The brothers will return to Brazil in the spring with another chance to catch on full time with the club’s academy, according to their father.

“The boys got a chance to see what some kids go through to get an opportunity to play at a higher level,” Ivan Hunter said. “Now they have a better understanding of the sacrifice it takes to go with the dreams of becoming a professional. Their experience in Brazil has electrified their focus on training and getting better. They feel very lucky to receive and invitation back to Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas next year.”

While the father did not play soccer growing up, their mother did and gave the young boys an early love for the game that was spurred on by some smart coaches in the early stages of their development.

“Skill development was introduced to them by Chris Obara at AYSES in Dallas, Texas,” Hunter said. “He gave me an understanding that technical development is very important to their ability to play at a higher level. To make sure out boys were in an environment that promoted technical development over an environment that focuses on winning. Without the technical development, the boys wouldn’t have been able to compete with kids in Holland or Brazil.”

U.S. U18 signs professional contract

U.S. U18 Men’s National Team midfielder Patrick Tshiani signed a professional contract with Standard Liege, a Belgium club, this week. Tshiani previously played for AC Bethesda before he joined Anderlecht in 2011.

Born in 1995, Tshiani is next in line for the U20 MNT in preparations for the 2015 World Cup.

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