Tottenham striker Richarlison got a tattoo after the World Cup that sparked discussion.
Neymar has reportedly sent Richarlison £26,000 and urged him to get his tattoo removed, as the Brazil World Cup hero got inked after their Qatar dream ended at the hands of Croatia. Richarlison celebrated a successful individual tournament, which featured two goals of the competition entries, with a tattoo of his own face on his back alongside the faces of his team-mate Neymar, and legend Ronaldo Nazario.
The tattoo does not appear to be a big hit with everyone, however, as Brazilian outlet Globo Sport claim that Neymar has given his compatriot £26k to get it removed. The Paris Saint-Germain star also reportedly blocked Richarlison jokingly, after the pair struck up a strong bond during their time together with the national team.
The bad news continues for Richarlison, who is facing up to six weeks on the sidelines after an injury he picked up before the defeat to Croatia. Football.London claim that the 25-year-old may miss a month-and-a-half following a scan on his hamstring, after injuring it in the warm-up ahead of the quarter-final. He still started the match for Brazil and managed to play 84 minutes before being replaced by Pedro.
He may also need to get his tattoo removed at the request of Brazil icon Neymar, despite Richarlison’s attempts to honour his team-mate on the ink dubbed Richarlison’s ‘Mount Rushmore’, which also contains the message: “You made Brazil smile, Pele.” The ink references the comment the legend left on Richarlison’s Instagram after defeat to Morocco.
Richarlison got his first tattoo in 2020, but has since gone on to have several done by artist Dom Tattoo, who has inked several of Richarlison’s team-mates. Despite his artwork, which has split opinions in Brazil, the ex-Everton and Watford forward has become a hugely popular figure.
Aside from his stunning goals, which firstly saw Richarlison flick the ball over his head in Brazil’s opening game of the tournament and then scissor kick it past the Serbia goalkeeper, he then juggled the ball on his head before playing a one-two with Lucas Paqueta to score in the 4-1 win over South Korea.
His iconic celebration saw the whole squad and even head coach Tite join in as they rushed towards the bench and Richarlison, Tite and the rest of the group celebrated with his pigeon dance. Not everyone enjoyed the scenes however, as Manchester United icon Roy Keane slammed Brazil at the time for their celebrations.
“I don’t like this,” Keane admitted during ITV’s coverage of the game. “He’s made a point about culture, I get that but I think it’s disrespecting the opposition. It’s four and they’re doing it every time.
“I don’t mind the first kind of little jig – whatever they’re doing – but they’re still doing it after that, and then the manager getting involved with it. I’m not happy with it, I don’t think it’s very good at all
