Richarlison scores his first two goals for Brazil
Richarlison, who made his national team debut as a substitute last Friday, needed just 31 minutes to open his account in the famous yellow jersey. The 21-year-old Everton attacker scored a brace in his very first start for the Brazilian national team in a friendly international vs El Salvador in the United States.
A former Brazilian U20 international, Richarlison introduced himself to the Premier League last season when he left Brazilian club Fluminense to sign for Watford. Under Marcos Silva, Richarlison scored 5 goals and had 5 assist for the Hornets. However, after the dismissal of the Portuguese manager, his production declined.
Therefore, in the summer there were many raised eyebrows when Marcos Silva, newly hired at Everton, paid £40 million to reunite with a player that could have been a one season wonder. Since his arrival at Goodison, he has been anything but and has shown he is worth every cent. The Brazilian's action-packed beginning to life at Everton has seen him score 3 goals in 3 games.
His electric start did not go unnoticed as Brazilian head coach Tite included him in the Seleção's first post World Cup squad.
Richarlison donning the famous number 9 jersey gave the Central Americans problems for the entire 54 minutes he was on the pitch. His first goal was a moment of pure instinct, Neymar, the recently named captain of Brazil, played a pass that could have been collected by either Richarlison or Juventus's Douglas Costa. But it was Richarlison who reacted quicker and blasted the ball past the El Salvador goaltender with his right foot.
His second strike was with his opposite foot as he pounced on a loose ball after the dribbling Coutinho was dispossessed. Another one-time strike impressing Tite in the process.
With Gabriel Jesus not scoring at all at the World Cup and his omission from this squad, the battle is truly on to be Brazil's permanent number 9.
Brazil eventually won the game 5-0 against the 72nd ranked El Salvadorians. Neymar scored his 59th goal for the national team putting him just three goals behind the great Ronaldo for all-time Brazilian national team goals. Philippe Coutinho and Marquinhos scored the other two goals for the 5-time world champions.