If there is one thing you can say about Endrick, Brazil’s match-winner on a soporific spring night at Wembley, it is that he doesn’t hang around waiting. Timetables and calendars mean nothing to him. There are only two times on his internal clock: now and next.
Endrick was the standout player at Brazil’s biggest under-20 tournament at the age of 15. He made his senior debut for Palmeiras in October 2022, two months after his 16th birthday. By the end of that year, he had won a Brazilian championship medal — he has since added another to his collection — and signed for Real Madrid.
This was not his senior international debut. He came off the bench in a World Cup qualifier against Colombia in November and did so again against Argentina five days later. It was, however, his first ever match in Europe — an opportunity to formally introduce himself on what Brazilians call the old continent.
They say you only get one chance to make a first impression. Endrick buried his, following up after Vinicius Junior’s shot was saved by Jordan Pickford and knocking the ball into the empty net. It was no masterpiece but the sense of lift-off, of talent unshackled by the usual laws, was unmistakable.
It felt for all the world like a preview showing of history.
GO FURTHER
Endrick delivers a preview showing of history to leave Brazil salivating for more
2024-03-24 12:50:49
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