ESPN Brasil are featuring an interview with Richarlison on Saturday evening. That’s the result of a long chat they had with the Everton star, and some of his quotes are already doing the rounds in the local media.
Website UOL highlights that the Toffees’ forward wishes to play two tournaments for the Brazilian national team this summer. And even though the Premier League side don’t want to let him go to both, he claims he’ll try to sort the issue.
“This year there’s the Copa America and there’s also the Olympics. It seems that the club doesn’t want to let me go, just want to release me to one, I think it’s for the Copa America, I don’t know. I was called up, I told them that I want to go to the Copa America and the Olympics, if I’m called,” Richarlison told ESPN Brasil (via UOL).
Richarlison missed the Olympics in 2016, when he was still playing for Fluminense. In 2019, however, he not only took part in Brazil’s squad which won the Copa America, but also scored a goal in the final against Peru.
“Like it or not, I don’t know if I’ll have another opportunity for the Olympics because I’m in the age. I want to play, I want to go. Because I never played an Olympics and we’ll be defending our title. So, I want to go, yes. It will be talked about here inside the club to know what decision will be made.”
Even though Richarlison is turning 24-years-of-age in May, he should still be eligible for the Olympic squad without being registered as an overage player. That’s because following the Olympics’ postponement due to the Coronavirus pandemic, FIFA announced they’d keep the rules which would’ve been used in the tournament in 2020.
So all footballers born after January 1997 will be allowed.
