Casemiro's junior mentor is delighted seeing him succeed with Real Madrid.
Nilton Moreira discovered Casemiro at his football school.
He told AS: "It was when I opened my football school in Sao José dos Campos in 1997. His cousin had started to play for the girls' team. She spoke to me about him and I brought him along. He already had a lot of self-confidence.
"(He was) six I think. He was training with me until he was 13, when Sao Paulo took him on. My school has a kind of agreement with Sao Paulo. They sent scouts and the kids go for trials for their academy. They liked Casemiro from the world go.
"In technical aspects. I always said his style would be well-suited to Europe. Because of his dynamism and his versatility, although I think his best position is as a number six. Today he's a complete player, moulded more to the European game."