Tottenham Hotspur striker Richarlison won the World Cup’s Goal of the Tournament award, but Brazilian media outlet UOL is not at all pleased with his performances.
Tite’s primary striker in Qatar was the 25-year-old Spurs star. The Brazil manager chose Richarlison despite having Gabriel Jesus and Pedro at his disposal, and the general consensus amongst most people would be that he played well.
Brazilian outlet UOL does not agree though and has labelled him a ‘disappointment’.
The outlet wrote:
“Richarlison was, at least for a few days after Brazil’s first game in the World Cup, the most talked about name in our country in all segments. And precisely, since the great goal he scored against Serbia (his second in the match) has a lot of players who can’t do it during their entire career.
“Imagine then in a World Cup game? It was spectacular! So much so that he was deservedly elected the most beautiful goal of the World Cup in Qatar.
“And Richarlison has another great quality, which is his rare charisma. It’s amazing how good people he appears to be and next to him it’s hard to see someone who isn’t smiling. But even with heartache, because he is a spectacular guy, we need to speak the truth. He owed a little bit during the World Cup.
“And, of course, it’s not just him, no. Since Ronaldo Fenômeno, in the 2006 World Cup, perhaps our best striker has been Luis Fabiano, in 2010. In 2014, Fred disappointed. In 2018, Gabriel Jesus managed to finish the Cup without scoring. And now, we have this disappointment with our number 9 shirt.”
This is quite a harsh assessment of his performances. The Tottenham player is no where near Ronaldo. Expecting him to score eight goals, as R9 did in 2002, would be absurd and make no sense at all.
Richarlison should be extremely pleased with his performance in Qatar over the past few weeks. Three goals and an assist in just 4 games is an excellent return.
Now that the World Cup is over, the Premier League is once again in the spotlight. Richarlison is currently injured, but once he recovers, he will be a crucial player for Spurs in the second half of the season.
