Like watching a sneak preview of future blockbuster films, the best thing about South American football is the chance to catch remarkable talent on the way up.
Barcelona's Argentine Lionel Messi tops the list but I have lost count of the extraordinary players whose early professional steps I have been lucky enough to witness.
Inevitably, plenty fall short of fulfilling their potential.
At the 2003 South American Under-20 Championships, I picked out a list of the most interesting players on show for World Soccer magazine. Carlos Tevez would have been on it - but I had already written about him months earlier. His team-mate Javier Mascherano was on my list, along with Brazil's attacking right-back Daniel Alves. And there was a Colombian I was excited about called Avimiled Rivas.
I wrote: "[He is] A midfielder who can be highly strung but looks a genuine thoroughbred. Tall, quick, strong and dynamic, he plays on the left but likes to cut inside to use his thumping right foot to switch play or shoot."
He is still doing it but not at the level that once seemed likely. Rivas was promoted to Colombia's senior squad and made a couple of appearances as a substitute. But a move to Real Sociedad in Spain did not work out. He was loaned out to lower-division clubs in Spain before returning home and bouncing around from club to club in Colombia.
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"It's been a big task and long work," said Fifa secretary-general Jerome Valcke last week when "We had 57 versions of this match schedule and finally nine on which we have been working. We took into account the medical aspects, logistics, travel and accommodation."
Staging a World Cup in a country the size of a continent is not easy, and Brazil in June/July offers a specific challenge - winter bites hard in the south and barely touches the north.
One of the big headaches in drawing up the match schedule must have been the question of how to deal with the southern host cities of Porto Alegre and Curitiba, where temperatures can drop to freezing.
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Last Tuesday when it was historic, but hardly surprising.
Venezuela have been making dramatic strides, had home advantage and were taking on an especially vulnerable Argentina side - whose the previous Friday may have disguised the fact.
As highly influential former national team coach Cesar Luis Menotti commented, "against Chile we didn't play well, against an opponent that went out to commit suicide" - a reference to the absurdly attacking line up of the Chileans (largely rectified in the following match where coach Claudio Borghi reverted to his customary 3-4-1-2 as Chile beat Peru 4-2 in a magnificent game in Lima).
Against Venezuela, then, came the moment of truth for Argentina, and as all self-belief drained out of the side in the second half it was clear that Menotti had a point when he complained about the absence of any coherent central idea.
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It's the same teams, three months apart, coming up with a totally different spectacle.
Back in July the was always enthralling, but its fascination was frequently the grim, attritional kind, with defences holding the upper hand.
Now in October, the first round of produced four open games - at times absurdly so - and 15 goals.
Much of this can be explained by the differing demands of tournament and league football.
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As recently as two decades ago, when Ecuador met Venezuela in World Cup qualification it was about as significant as when Liechtenstein take on the Faroe Islands.
Not any longer.
This Friday, the two South American countries face each other in the opening round of the continent's - with both entitled to believe that they are taking the first step on the road to the finals in Brazil.
Some of this faith comes down to numbers. As hosts, Brazil are guaranteed a place in their own World Cup.
Without them there are just taking part in the qualifying process. But the continent has retained its full complement of slots. Four go through automatically.
The team finishing fifth will take part in a play-off against opponents from Asia. There is a good chance, then, that in addition to Brazil another five South American countries will be present at the 2014 World Cup.
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I cover South American football from Brazil. There's a wealth of talent and a rich culture - a fascinating continent to follow football.
