Brazil star Richarlison blasted as ‘terrible’ despite wonder goal

Brazil forward Richarlison has been labelled as ‘terrible’ by former Italy striker Antonio Cassano despite scoring twice in the Selecao’s opening World Cup win against Serbia. The Tottenham striker is his nation’s first choice No 9 but his performances in Qatar have not been enough to convince all of his critics. 

Richarlison is yet to become an automatic first choice for Spurs since his £60million summer move from Everton, but that has not stopped him from nailing down the striker berth at international level. The 25-year-old has scored 19 goals in 39 caps since making his debut in 2018 and has continued this form into his first World Cup. 

He has been widely praised for his performance in Brazil’s 2-0 victory over Serbia, scoring both goals as the South Americans got their World Cup off to the perfect start. His second was arguably the goal of the tournament so far with an excellent acrobatic overhead kick that he had created all on his own. 

However, this has not been enough to silence his critics, who believe he is not good enough to represent Brazil at the World Cup. Cassano is one of these and has doubled down on his stance following the win, labelling Richarlison as ‘terrible’ and suggesting his goal was a fluke.

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“You can’t call up Richarlison, who is terrible, and leave Firmino out, who is a phenomenon,” the former Real Madrid and AC Milan striker said in a now resurfaced video. “Richarlison is very bad, they have paid him 75 million and he does not know how to control the ball. Liverpool’s is much better.”

Richarlison is likely to lead the line for Brazil again when they play Switzerland in their second group game on Monday. The team are up against it with talisman Neymar ruled out with an ankle injury, putting more pressure upon the Tottenham star.