The life of Richarlison

As one of Everton’s stand out performers this season Richarlison is player that I vastly admire, he had a great 17-18 campaign being the shining spark in an average Watford side. This season he has gone from strength to strength he has scored 4 goals and won Man of the Match twice and been the pinnacle of Everton’s attack, this is a short biography of his life and how he came to be a footba

ller.

Richarlison de Andrade was born on the 10th of May 1997 in Nova Venécia, Brazil, a city better known for producing steel and petroleum rather than footballers. He is the oldest of five children and he was born in the slums on the outskirts of the city known as the ‘favelas’ and thus he was brought up in poverty. His father was a stonemason and his mother was a cleaner and ice cream seller.

As a youngster Richarlison, like a lot of poorer Brazilian’s had to make money for his family instead of selling drugs like most of his friends, he sold ice cream and chocolate and also washed cars. In his words…“The majority of my friends went to sell drugs in the street because they saw easy money; a lot of money. But I knew it was wrong so I sold chocolate and ice cream and washed cars because I knew that was the right thing to do. And I could help my mother. ‘My friends always used to tell me: ‘Oh come here, don’t be a little girl, come and smoke with us, come and sell with us, you can make much more money”.

Speaking to the Sun about his life in Brazil, Richarlison said: “When I was seven my dad bought ten balls for me, not because he could afford to do it but because he wanted me to be a good footballer. Most of the time my friends and I played on the street, make goals with our sandals. It was like a favela, a poor area.”

Also from an early age, playing in the Premier League was a big ambition for Richarlison. He also said: “I used to watch the Premier League on my uncle’s TV. I was in love with what I was seeing — the speed of the game and the way it never stopped.”

Richarlison at that time would always speak to his mind saying… ‘I’m going to play there one day.’

Richarlison has endured a remarkable journey to make it where he is today.

When he was 14 years old, carefree and playing football in the streets of Nova Venecia, in south-east Brazil, something very unfortunate happened. A gangstar and drug lord pointed and pressed up the muzzle of his gun against the forehead of Richarlison. This was followed by him issuing all manner of threats for encroaching (playing football) on his drug-dealing territory.

As Richarlison puts it, “In that moment I was very afraid. Because if he had pulled the trigger, then it would have been over. The drug lord told us that if he found us again he would shoot us without any problem — me and my friends. I think they confused me with someone else. He thought I was stealing his drugs and using football as a form of disguise, but I was just playing football with my friends. After he lowered his gun, I turned away and started to run. I never went back to that street. I didn’t say anything to him. I was very afraid.”

The tricky winger’s life changed when he met businessman Renato Velasco, who saw his potential while playing in the youth team at local club Real Noroeste.

In the words of Richarlison,“Renato was the first one that gave me an opportunity. In the first week, he gave me a pair of football boots because before that I had been playing with odd ones.”

Shortly after he met Renato Velasco he was signed up by Brazilian club América Mineiro in 2015, and after impressing so much he was signed by Brazilian giants Flumense the following season, and became a regular starter despite having only one season of professional football under his belt.

Richarlison’s rise to fame is in my opinion a deeply moving story and I hope you feel the same about his story too.

Richarlison playing for Everton photo Metro