Scored a dream goal against Serbia: Brazilian center forward Richarlison.
Photo: AFP/Vincenzo PINTO
With an acrobatic side kick goal in the first group game of the five-time world champion, he sent the whole of Brazil into ecstasy. In the match against Serbia, Richarlison de Andrade, who earns his living with London’s Tottenham Hotspur, was the best on the team. The center forward had already put the Seleção on course with his number one goal, a semi-scoop, which now showed not only tactical discipline but also their jogo bonito – the Brazilian ball magic. A combination that is likely to win the title, as everyone who secretly watched Qatar could observe.
Unlike his politically polarized home country, Brazil’s team appears united. It is peppered with exceptional players, even if everyone is looking primarily at Neymar. However, he is no exception when it comes to the decadence and political ignorance of football millionaires. The days of personalities »Doctor« Sócrates, Rai or Casagrande, who were clearly on the left wing of society, are long gone in Brazil too.
It is all the more remarkable that Richarlison not only has a feeling in his foot, but also brains and a political awareness. With diligence and talent, he was able to escape the poverty – father a bricklayer, mother a cleaner – into which he was born in 1997 in the town of Nova Venécio in the southeastern state of Espírito Santo. He grew up in a neighborhood dominated by drugs and violence. He has not forgotten his roots. Richarlison has a strong social commitment and uses his prominence to give a voice to those who are denied basic rights. Again and again he refers to the racist discrimination of large parts of the population in Brazil. Without waving the flag of a party, he has clearly distanced himself from the policies of the Bolsonaro government.
Now President-elect Lula intends to “make Brazil happy again.” And thanks to Richarlison, left-wing fans of the Seleção can make the yellow-green jersey hijacked by the Bolsonarists theirs again with a better feeling.
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