Tottenham’s Richarlison has hit back at France superstar Kylian Mbappe over his comments about the state of South American football.
Mbappe criticised the South American game in comments this week, insisting that it lagged behind European football.
The French forward use the Nations League as example, saying that was a better preparation for the World Cup than what the South American sides had via their fixtures.
“Argentina and Brazil don’t have that in that aspect. In South America, football is not as advanced as in Europe. That’s why when you look at the last cups, it’s always the Europeans who win”, said the athlete to TNT Sports.
The comment has naturally not gone down very well in South America, with players from those countries jumping to the defence of the system in place.
Tottenham’s Richarlison is one who knows all about the set up in Brazil in particular, having started his career with América Futebol Clube’s U20s before joining Fluminense.
He then moved to Watford before establishing himself as a star at Everton and then joining Tottenham in a €58m deal in July this year.
He will be a part of Brazil’s squad for the World Cup in Qatar this month and jumped to his country’s defence when the subject of Mbappe’s comments came up.
“South American football is very difficult to play,” UOL report him saying.
“You’ll play there at altitude, there in Bolivia, as you can see, it’s difficult. I went there for the national team, and we suffered a lot to adapt.
“I think everyone says what they want. Just as in South America there are teams, according to Mbappe, weak, in Europe there are too. I think it’s all the same, there’s nothing to talk about.”
