World Cup 2022: Who is Richarlison, the star of Brazil’s opener in Qatar?

His football career is certainly distinguished, but he has a lot in common with other Brazilian players.

Born into a poor family in a small mining town, he dropped out of school at 16 to start his football career and help his parents and brothers financially.

He played as a striker for Atletico Mineiro and Fluminense and moved to England in 2017 – where he trodden for Watford and Everton before joining Tottenham in 2022.

But it’s his advocacy of science, the environment and the fight against racism that really sets him apart, and he was awarded the 2020 Professional Footballers’ Association of England Community Champion award, in recognition of his charitable works in his country of origin.

A famous Brazilian saying goes: “Football does not mix with politics”.

With few exceptions – notably Neymar who backs Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro – most footballers have historically preferred not to address political issues in public.

Richarlison, however, is happy to speak his mind.

He particularly stressed the importance of vaccines at the height of the Covid crisis in Brazil, where nearly 700,000 people died from this disease.

In 2021, at a time when Bolsonaro was openly critical of vaccines — he never confirmed whether or not he received doses himself — Richarlison shared a plea with his millions of social media followers.

“From the bottom of my heart, I appeal to you all. Be sure to take your vaccine. (…) The vaccine is yours, it is your right. Do not waste this opportunity”.

After becoming an ambassador for Covid research at the University of Sao Paulo, he also auctioned off his football boots and donated the money to the laboratories.

“The coronavirus is an invisible and dangerous enemy, but it has shown us who the real stars are. They don’t wear football boots: they are doctors, scientists and researchers who risk their lives every day,” he said. he said in a video posted on social media.

Echoing international condemnation of Brazil’s environmental policies, Richarlison criticized the fires that destroyed 30% of the Pantanal, one of the country’s most important natural ecosystems.

“The fires are something that touched me a lot, because I remembered the days I spent there, the villages I visited. It is a paradise and it should never suffer from arson, especially arson,” he said in an interview.

In June 2022, he urged authorities to step up efforts to find British journalist Dom Phillips, who disappeared in the Amazon and was later found dead, murdered after speaking out against illegal practices in the region.

In September, a banana was thrown at Richarlison as he celebrated a goal in a friendly against Tunisia in Paris.

“As long as [les autorités] will do “blah blah blah” and not punish, it will continue like this, it happens every day and everywhere,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Racism is something we live with every day,” he said in an interview for Everton’s 2020 matchday program. in disguise”.

“It was racism when my friends and I went to play football in my town and someone called me a bandit, when I hadn’t done anything to deserve it. But it’s also racism when people change sidewalks when they see a black man coming from the opposite direction.”

“These are subtle things that show the extent of the problem,” he added.

The footballer said he was “shocked” and “sad” after seeing the footage of George Floyd, who died after a police officer put a knee on his neck in Minnesota in 2020.

“It’s a good thing that this barbarism has not gone unnoticed once again and that people have decided to protest and show their displeasure,” he said.

“We have thousands of cases like George Floyd’s every year, but it’s something that has become routine. People – especially the authorities – don’t feel it and don’t suffer from it.”

Richarlison had a “very poor childhood” in the state of Espirito Santo, Brazil.

As a teenager, he sold sweets and helped his grandfather collect coffee beans.

Sometimes, he says, “we had nothing to eat.”

He didn’t complete his education before starting his football career, in order to put food on the family table.

“This is the reality of many children in my city and in Brazil,” he later said in an interview.

“Many drop out of school and have to work to help support their families. Every time I see a child who has to drop out of school, it breaks my heart. Of course, I see myself reflected in them.”

Now, as a successful international player with 19 million followers on Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, Richarlison wants to inspire people beyond the world of football.

“After starting a professional career, I saw that I could do bigger and bigger things,” he told Everton’s matchday programme.

“It’s not always about the money, it’s about really caring about others and getting involved in causes that are important. At first, I just wanted to give this house to my parents.”

“Now I see that I can do much more than that,” he continues. “I can help and I can inspire people on and off the pitch.”