Richarlison was alone in a hotel room in Maryland following an unforgettable full debut for Brazil last week. The two goals the Everton forward scored in a 5-0 defeat of El Salvador were on repeat on his phone. In his possession was the shirt worn at FedExField by Neymar, whose haircuts the 21-year-old imitated as a boy and whose goals he tries to replicate as a man.
“God bless you golden boy,” was the message written on the No 10 jersey from Richarlison’s idol. So much to take in, yet his thoughts drifted from the mementos of a magical night towards a tough childhood in Nova Venécia, and the family and friends who doubted his ability to fulfil a dream.
“After the game I went to my room and reflected on things,” says Richarlison, who has also had quite the impact for Marco Silva’s team since his £40m summer move from Watford. “I watched the goals back and was thinking that three or four years ago I was living in my hometown and now I am playing for Brazil and scoring for the national team.
“I thought about the problems I had growing up, how I prioritised football over school but people were telling me I wouldn’t make it, that it wasn’t possible. The thing is I did make it thanks to my own will and determination and the help of some people I had around me in my hometown.
“Some of my friends said I wouldn’t have a future in football, as did some of my family, but I still believed in the potential I had. My mum would tell me I needed to get a proper job but for me I didn’t want to be anything other than a footballer. That led to some tension and frustration between us. It was something I dreamed of doing and I fought until the very end.”
The tension between Richarlison and his mum, Vera Lucia, is long gone and his family – who were unable to attend his Seleção debut in the United States because of passport issues – plan to be out in force for Brazil’s next international on home soil. On Friday Richarlison was called up for October’s friendlies against Saudi Arabia and Argentina.
“It wasn’t just my mum but other people as well,” he adds of the doubters. “My dad [Antonio Marcus] was the one who registered me in my first school and believed in me more than anyone. I think my dad is the proudest of anyone that I made my debut for Brazil. He and my uncle called me up before the game and said I would score two goals. It was a dream come true and the first goal I scored for Brazil will live with me forever.”
Another lasting impression was made by Neymar, who took Richarlison under his wing during his first international call-up and copied the winger’s “pigeon dance” celebration against El Salvador. For Richarlison, having styled himself on the Paris Saint-Germain forward on and off the pitch for several years, it was another sign for Richarlison that he had arrived.
“Neymar has been an idol of mine since childhood,” the former Fluminense forward admits. “I’ve always tried to mirror myself in the way he plays and I’ve also tried imitating some of his haircuts. When I was 12 or 13 I had the yellow mohican. I didn’t quite pull it off though because I didn’t have the right hair products.
“It would stay up for five minutes and then just flop down, so it didn’t really work. I told him about the haircut during lunchtime one day on international duty. The whole room fell about laughing – they thought it was hilarious.”
Richarlison evidently made a strong impression on Brazil’s captain, whose signed shirt from the El Salvador game will take pride of place at home. He says: “I kept my shirt and boots from that game and am going to get them framed. Neymar gave me his shirt as well. Mine will be framed alongside Neymar’s and I will keep them in a room in my house so people can see them when they come to visit.”
Neymar also features heavily in Richarlison’s pre-match routine of studying clips of famous compatriots. “Whenever we are en route to a game on the bus I am always watching the goals of Ronaldo, Adriano and Neymar to get some inspiration,” he explains. “Then when I am on the pitch I try to replicate what they do.
“I also watch some of my own goals now to see the good things I have done as a player. I have my goals for Brazil on my phone now and on the flight from New York to Liverpool I must have watched them about 50 times.”
Richarlison and his routine will return for Everton at Arsenal on Sunday having served a three-match suspension for a foolish dismissal at Bournemouth almost a month ago.
Silva’s team have not won a Premier League game without their three-goal leading scorer, who could replicate his No 9 role for Brazil at the Emirates Stadium, and the Everton manager received a personal apology from his key summer signing on the Monday after the red card.
“I apologised because it was a tough game and being sent off meant my teammates were left in the lurch,” Richarlison says. “What happened was my decision. I was sent off because of something I did on my own and I know how hard it is for a team to play with just 10 men. I went to see the manager and apologise because he is the boss. It was a strange feeling when I went into the dressing room because I’m not an aggressive player, it’s not what I’m like, and it won’t happen again.
“It has been really hard for me to not be playing. I was in the stadium watching the game on Sunday [the home defeat by West Ham United] and I was watching my team-mates give their all, wishing I could be alongside them doing the same. The red card was an upsetting event for me. I’ve learned from it and I will make sure it won’t happen again.”
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