Strike it Rich
EVERTON’S FORWARD ON HIS JOURNEY FROM THE STREETS TO THE BIG TIME
LIFE in the Premier League is a world away from the one that Richarlison once knew.
Flip flops – not floodlights – became the Everton forward’s focal point growing up in Nova Venecia, a small Brazilian city located 480 miles south of Rio de Janeiro. A passion for ‘o jogo bonito’ (the beautiful game) was ignited during countless days on his native streets, with many of the friendships forged in that period continuing to endure to this day.
‘I played a lot in the streets because I had all my friends who lived near my house,’ he reveals. ‘We’d use our flip flops for goal posts and play in the street. That was a lot of fun. There was also a sand pitch, so most of the time was spent playing football.
‘Whenever I’m back there on holiday, I organise a special match between friends and I invite them to come and play.
‘These were important people in my childhood, and I think it’s really good to remember them and get them involved to enjoy ourselves together again.’
More than enjoying a get-together with childhood pals lies behind Richarlison’s motivation for organising those annual matches, which raise funds to help feed impoverished families within his home state of Espirito Santo. His affection for the region has remained strong despite an upbringing where being in the wrong place at the wrong time often carried terrifying ramifications.
At the age of 14, he stared down the barrel of a gun in Vila Rubia, one of his city’s rougher areas, after a local drug dealer mistakenly believed the future Brazil international was trying to steal his distribution point. Such ordeals were merely part and parcel of daily life.
‘When you grow up in a sort of peripheral area, you take things like that naturally,’ he admits. ‘You’re aware of the dangers when you’re walking out on the street.
‘We as kids just wanted to have fun and amuse ourselves, but we were aware of the dangers that existed in our city.’
Football offered Richarlison a path away from a life of potential crime, but he had already formed a contingency plan if his dream career failed to materialise.
Prior to being taken on by America Mineiro, he undertook an array of jobs that varied from selling ice creams at the roadside to washing cars and even helping harvest coffee beans and peanuts on his grandfather’s land. A strong work ethic is ingrained in the 23-year-old’s eventual route to the heights of the English game.
‘I would have to help out at home in some way,’ he says. ‘I’d have to make the most of things, work hard and do something in my city.
‘I couldn’t just be staying at home doing nothing and feeling sorry for myself. My mum wouldn’t accept having me at home doing nothing either.
‘So when I started believing that I could make it as a footballer, that’s when I really started believing it was a possibility. When I went into my last trial, I gave my absolute everything and changed my path and story.’
Seven years on from making that quantum leap into professional football with Mineiro, Richarlison has already tasted international success as a member of Brazil’s Copa America-winning squad, which is set to defend its 2019 crown this summer.
With Everton, he sits at the vanguard of a side becoming reborn under Carlo Ancelotti. The highly decorated Italian coach is already setting bold, yet attainable standards designed to help them finally smash through the Premier League’s glass
ceiling. Belatedly securing a first away win against Liverpool in more than two decades, courtesy of Richarlison opening the scoring, was one of the more notable achievements in Ancelotti’s first full season at the helm.
Some hoodoos still linger, however, with successive quarter-final exits in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup denying the Toffees their first taste of silverware since winning the former in 1995. But a victory over Tottenham tonight would put Goodison Park firmly back in the hunt for European qualification – a target which Ancelotti has consistently emphasised this season.
‘You can see this season how much the club has evolved with Carlo Ancelotti in charge,’ says Richarlison. ‘We were looking to win the FA Cup or the Carabao Cup.
‘Unfortunately, we were knocked out. We came up against two high-quality teams. But we are developing and we’re now looking for a place in the Europa League or Champions League.
‘We’ll fight right until the very end of the season to achieve this because it’s what the club and its fans really deserve.’
Continental ambitions are not the sole benchmark by which the Everton manager is seeking to elevate his current charges.
Richarlison and strike-partner Dominic Calvert-Lewin were both set individual targets of 20 goals apiece this term, while the Brazilian has also been touted as a future Ballon d’Or winner by Ancelotti.
That belief from a coach who has worked with nine recipients of the award, including two of its most recent winners in Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo, has further incentivised the former Watford man to excel for club and country.
‘If he said that, it’s because he’s seen something with my development. He’s seen that I’m capable of becoming a top footballer,’ Richarlison says.
‘That means I will give everything and look to develop and evolve even further. He trusts me and I trust him so I will give my all looking to develop.
‘I will work really hard to evolve to my maximum potential and learn from him.
‘If he’s said these things, then it’s because he believes I can win the Ballon d’Or; that I can be the top scorer in the Premier League, that gives you this added incentive to train really hard for Everton and the Brazilian national team so one day, further along the line, I can remember and think about Carlo Ancelotti too.’ Richarlison’s fearlessness in front of goal is matched by a refreshing approach in tackling the murky world of social media. At a time when a worrying number of top-flight players find themselves subjected to appalling racist abuse on an almost daily basis, his Twitter feed is a rare source of regular engagement.
Everton fans who take the time to message him are often acknowledged with a friendly response, as are those offering more unsavoury feedback – especially from across Stanley Park.
‘I like to bring happiness and joy to everyone, whether that’s the people who are criticising me or the Everton fans who really like me,’ he explains.
‘It also helps me with learning English as well. By interacting with people and the fans as much as possible, particularly here in England, it helps me develop my English.
‘I always like to have a laugh with people. I know the Liverpool fans aren’t fond of me, but I like to have a laugh with them so I’m always replying in a joking way. That’s part of football. I think you shouldn’t take it to heart, and you should also look to have some fun and a laugh with other people.’
If Everton succeed in securing a European spot next month, Richarlison will be having the biggest laugh of all.