Millions of Brazilians took part in Luiz Eduardo Bertoldo’s desperation. On the TV news and on social networks in mid-December, they saw the 11-year-old boy crying uncontrollably over racist insults from the coach of the opposing team after his youth team had played soccer in the state of Goiás.
Immediately after the final whistle of his game at a tournament, Eduardo let his pain towards his parents run wild. “Deliver the blacks, deliver the blacks,” the opponent’s coach called to his own players. “He kept repeating it all through the game,” complained the Afro-Brazilian boy.
The pictures of the crying young footballer went around the world and also moved the Brazilian world star Neymar in distant France. The Paris Saint-Germain striker cheered the boy up in a video message.
“Unfortunately, these things are still happening,” criticized Neymar in his 51-second statement. “Don’t stop playing football with what you love. Put it into practice, devotion and love for all, regardless of race or skin color. I am by your side, «the world star concluded the message for the boy, whose case brings a topic to the fore that is as old as football itself in Brazil.
