Richarlison during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Round of 16 match between Brazil and South Korea on December 05, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.
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In August this year, with his club-side Tottenham Hotspur leading Nottingham Forest two goals to nil, and with six minutes left for the full-time whistle, Richarlison, the scorer now of two delicious FIFA World Cup Finals goals, indulged in a bit of showboating, or what Jamie Carragher described at the time, with little regard for the term’s etymological origins, as “shithousery”. After receiving the ball on the left wing, the Brazilian performed a series of keepie-uppies, before laying the ball off to a teammate. Suitably wound up, the moment the ball came back to Richarlison, a Forest player was on to him to knock both his feet off the ground. There was no intention to tackle Richarlison legitimately, and yet the reaction from the English press said it all: the Brazilian had displayed a lack of respect for the opponent and deserved the instant justice meted out to him.
“It does wind people up. You can’t do that. But what is he doing? He just winds people up that lad, Richarlison,” said Carragher on commentary. “He winds me up. What do you expect Johnson to do? You’re not condoning that but…”
The Nottingham Forest manager, Steve Cooper was equally scathing: “I wouldn’t want my players to do that, what Richarlison did. If that is accepted at Spurs that is nothing to do with me, but it wouldn’t be accepted here.”
West Ham United’s manager David Moyes pitched in for good measure too: “I think [in] football in all countries there’s no room for ball juggling whether it is in this one or any other ones, or whether it be in non-league or the Premier League. If you are talented enough to do that, you need to be strong enough to take the hits.”
The message was clear enough: football wasn’t meant to be joyous, it was serious business, and if you were out there taking the mickey, the opponent would be fully justified in using the crudest possible means available to stop you in your tracks.
At the World Cup
A few weeks later, we are at the Round of 16 knockout match of the World Cup Finals in Qatar between Brazil and South Korea, and Richarlison is still at it. Each of Brazil’s forwards is purring from the off-go. The interplay between Neymar, Vinicius Jr., Raphinha, and Richarlison is a sight to behold. Brazil go 2-0 up almost in an instant, the first scored through a beautifully placed finish from Vinicius and the second a cheeky penalty from Neymar (won through Richarlison’s quick thinking and even quicker feet). But the third, which follows soon thereafter, is a thing of beauty, a team goal of the highest quality. Richarlison is once again at the heart of it, both starting and ending the move.
Richarlison juggles the ball on his forehead as South Korea’s Hwang In-beom looks on during the World Cup match on December 5, 2022
| Photo Credit:
AP
When the ball gets headed out beyond the edge of the South Korean box, Richarlison takes one touch at it with the back of his head, and then proceeds to juggle the ball four times, with three consecutive touches coming off his forehead — bringing to mind Kerlon’s famous “dribble da foquinha”, or “seal dribble” as it’s called in English. Having juggled the ball thus, Richarlison lays it off to Marquinhos, who proceeds to return it in the giver’s direction. This time, the forward performs an almost-rapid dummy, running over the ball, and leaving it to the onrushing Thiago Silva, who, in turn, threads a precise ball into the box, where Richarlison, who had by then darted diagonally inwards, takes possession. The ball is then slotted into the back of the net with consummate ease, and Brazil lead 3-0.
The keepie-uppie, as Richarlison establishes here, has a definite place in football. And in moments such as this, it can be nothing short of thrilling to watch. If the South Koreans were wound up by it, they certainly did not show it on the pitch. Football’s history is littered with instances of great players performing great feats of skill. When executed at the wrong time, a skill can prove valueless, but the idea that a player is disrespecting an opponent by juggling the football when a simple pass would do is nonsense. Indeed, it speaks to a certain desire for joylessness.
That desire was just as evident in the reactions to Brazil’s celebrations. The four goals against South Korea were each followed by a choreographed dance routine. Coach Tite too joined in on occasion with a little jig of his own.
“I can’t believe what I’m watching, it’s like watching Strictly [Come Dancing],” said Roy Keane on ITV. “I don’t like this. People say it’s their culture. But I think that’s really disrespecting the opposition.” Graeme Souness, echoing some of what was said on the back of the Forest game, claimed, it was “only a matter of time before someone goes right through one of these Brazilians.”
Ask the fans, though, and they’d tell you they would sooner be rid of the philistines in the studio than the game’s finest sleights of hand.
( Suhrith Parthasarathy is an advocate practising in the Madras High Court)
