Column: A very Brazilian Brazilian...

We've all seen Brazil play football, right? The Samba style, the joga bonito-inspired freedom and the sheer love of the game from a football-mad country.

Brazil have won a record five World Cups - and as we know winning five of anything should be respected - whilst the memories they created during those tournaments are still uppermost in the thoughts of many when you think of 'The Beautiful Game'.

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Garrincha, Pele, Jairzinho, Socrates, Zico, Romario, Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaka and many many more.

The list of great and memorable Brazilian players is endless. All had and have that sense of adventure and wonder about them. A drop of the shoulder here or a burst of pace there and something astonishing was about to happen.

It is lazy to stereotype, but these are the images we get when we think of Brazil and Brazilian footballers. Except we never really used to at Liverpool.

Before this January, four men from the largest country in South America had donned a Red shirt.

The first was Fabio Aurelio, a left-sided arrival from Valencia in 2006 who was often a pleasure to watch with a football at his feet and did have his stylish moments.

Aurelio could be a key component of Rafael Benitez's team whenever he was fit, but he was prone to injury and so often left a feeling of unfulfilled talent. He was always worth taking a chance on - as Roy Hodgson did when he immediately brought him back to the club after he'd originally been released in 2010 - but the luckless Aurelio never got the breaks he deserved, and so his quality couldn't shine through.

Next through the door was Lucas Leiva, the former Player of the Year winner in Brazil who was nonetheless moving to a different culture and a different style of football at just 20 years old. Things were going to take time.

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As he has since freely admitted, Lucas's journey from struggling youngster to one of the first and most important names on the Liverpool teamsheet wasn't an easy one, but he's overcome a variety of setbacks to make it there now. His importance to the club has already been well-established.

But you kind of forget he's Brazilian, don't you? Consistently among the Premier League's top tacklers, his style doesn't fit the stereotype of Brazilian footballers.

The two other Brazilians to play for Liverpool were back-up goalkeepers, Diego Cavalieri and Alexander Doni - men who made only a handful of appearances as understudies to Pepe Reina. They were never going to produce the silky skills that their compatriots are capable of. They'd have heard a few choice words from the Kop if they did.

And so that search for a 'proper' Brazilian player continued, which brings us to this January.

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The arrival of Philippe Coutinho from Inter Milan didn't just end that search, but it also saw Liverpool add a terrifically talented player to the club, and one who is just 20 years old.

Coutinho can genuinely excite, he offers that mythical 'something different' and despite being slight of frame he doesn't look overawed by the physical aspects of life in England.

It is his fellow South American Luis Suarez who is of course the king of getting the Anfield regulars to rise to the tips of their toes, but witness Coutinho's efforts to turn the recent points against West Ham and Reading into three and you'll see someone who has the heart to match his undoubted ability.

Like so many of his new teammates Coutinho is young, and so a degree of patience has to come with his signing. But the progress he's made so far should only whet appetites for next season and the seasons to come.

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As Liverpool's first 'properly Brazilian' Brazilian, Coutinho has brought an awful lot of excitement and expectation to the club, but a lot of that can come later.

He needs to settle into his new life as the Reds' great entertainer first.

If he needs inspiration, he's got plenty of fellow countrymen he can look to.