Raphinha is a new darling of Brazilian football.
The 24-year-old wasn’t very well known in his home country before this year, given he left Brazil for Portugal and Vitória Guimarães before he’d had a chance to show his full potential.
Later moving to Sporting, Raphinha hopped to France with Rennes in 2019 and was quickly sold to Leeds United in 2020, in a move which surprised the player given he thought the Ligue 1 side would ask for more than the €20m they received.
Breaking into the national side this year, thanks to his performances for Leeds United and progress under Marcelo Bielsa, the attacker seriously impressed the local audience and media.
Therefore, when Nicolas Otamendi’s arm collided with Raphinha’s face on Wednesday evening, resulting in blood, there was fury.
The match between Argentina and Brazil finished 0-0, with both countries now qualified for the World Cup in Qatar, and the incident with the Leeds United player is one of the biggest reaction stories in the Brazilian media.
UOL have multiple articles on it.
Brazil manager Tite was furious that VAR didn’t deem a red car appropriate, and UOL quote him as saying: “It’s inconceivable. And I say less, that’s not the term I meant, I’m saying it because I’m polite.”
Galvão Bueno, who was commentating, felt similar, and his view was: “He [Otamendi] is physical, he protects the ball very well… Guys, look at this, take a look. What is this? This is a shame. What’s the VAR for?”
Meanwhile, UOL’s Julio Gomes was hugely impressed with the reaction of the Leeds United player, writing: ‘He showed his blood to the referee and had a “Premier League player attitude”. No show, no rolls on the floor.
‘Raphinha set an example to her teammates and to every soccer player in the country. More preoccupation with the game, less theatre and attempts to deceive or influence those who already have to make a lot of difficult decisions on the field. Raphinha’s blood is not from a cockroach. Raphinha’s blood is that of a professional football player. It is the blood of those who respect the sport. Congratulations to him. That kind of attitude is worth a lot more than a goal.’
See, we told you they love him!
As for the Leeds United star, he’s picked up a nasty blow to the mouth, and the blood was little, but there’s not thought to be any serious issue going forward.
