The bus station in the small Brazilian town of Nova Venecia has a story to tell.
It marks the beginning of Richarlison's journey to the premier league after the all-you-can- eat buffet and drunk on the forecourt.
He left home with no money for a return ticket and 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020 800-361-3020
It was the year of the pig. His beloved national team had been humiliated at the World Cup and the trials at Figueirense had gone unrewarded. The top scorer with Real Noroeste Under-20s was losing hope despite attracting little attention.
He was considering the bus journey west for a trial with America-MG. He was determined to keep going.
Pedro Emanuel is a childhood friend.
He told me he was going, but didn't have boots. He had a black pair but they were falling apart. I told him there was a pair of eye-catching blue and pink ones that he should take.
The trial eventually led to five consecutive seasons in the premier league with both of them. Richarlison is a certainty for this year's World Cup in Brazil with his gold medal from the 2020 Olympics.
It could have been different.
When Richarlison was six years old, his parents separated, so he spent three years living with his father Antonio, working on his grandfather's farm and travelling every weekend to play matches.
People told Antonio to invest in his son because of his talent. He bought 10 footballs and sent him to live with an aunt.
Antonio is the president and his son is an ambassador of Nova Venecia FC, which is a club that was very poor at that time.
It was a difficult childhood for him and I because we lived in the countryside and had to climb on the back of a truck to get to football matches. When he turned nine, I left him with my sister because people kept saying he had a future.
Richarlison helped pay his way by selling ice cream and chocolates on the streets, washing cars, working in a cafe with his uncle, and trying his hand as a bricklayer.
While Antonio admits his son was not the most academic of children, staff at the school he attended describe a well-mannered, football-mad boy with dyed yellow hair. The janitor remembers him bursting through the front gates and running to the back of the school to play football. His humility and good conduct are remembered by teachers.
Richarlison didn't like to study, but he wasn't undisciplined, says his teacher.
He was a well-behaved boy and not a rebel. His family is good people and they gave him respect for his teachers. He might have gotten involved in drugs and violence at that time, but he always avoided it.
Not always. Richarlison had a gun pulled on him by a local dealer who thought he was trying to take over his territory. Antonio recalls being summoned by the school after his son was picked up by the police.
Antonio says that they were worried because the area was dangerous. A lot of his friends went the wrong way.
Richarlison credits his first youth coach, a policeman, with helping him steer clear of a life of crime. The team was squeezed into a VW Gol to go to a final out of town. They returned as the champion after travelling in the boot.
Richarlison's strength and pace made him problematic even for those three years older than him. His move to America-MG almost fell apart when the club's negotiating tactics saw him go.
Real were allowed to retain a percentage of his rights, but the club&s hardball stance affected the mental health of Antonio, who was already suffering from depression. Richarlison doesn't like to talk about this time in his career.
The youngster was able to adapt to life in America easily if leaving Real was difficult. He was one of only two boys selected from the trial to which he traveled by bus, and went on to join the club's U17s before being fast-tracked into the U20s.
The director of America remembers being impressed by his strength and determination, which he attributes to running up and down the hilly, cobbled streets of Nova Venecia. He was training with the first team.
He played on the wing and was a foul player but rarely went down.
Defenders would smash into him and he would fall. He would bounce back up and keep going. He never gave up. He was like a youngRonaldo in that he had physical strength and determination at a young age.
Richarlison was not solely focused on the field. One night before a match, America's massage therapist Silvio Junio Nunes da Silva had to take his son to work.
Richarlison was playing a game and my son asked if he could play as well.
Richarlison was winning 11-0 when I came back. I said: "Enough already, man, but he was ruthless." He wanted to keep winning. My son was seven years old. He has a desire to win.
He remembers a player with talent, humility and a large nose.
He was a lot of fun, we always joked back and forth. We called him Toucan because it was not small.
I said from the beginning that he would go far because of his work ethic, determination, talent, and humility. He is where he is today because we scored a lot of goals that season.
Richarlison was sold to Fluminense for R$10m, which is worth just over $1m today, after he scored nine times in 24 appearances. He left an impression because they retained 20% of his economic rights and he received a windfall when he moved toWatford. Speak to anyone at the club and they have a tale to tell about their famous former colleague.
When a youth player at America receives their first professional salary, club rules dictate they should leave the academy dorms to free up a space for someone else. Richarlison preferred to stay with his team-mates and occasional rat rather than rent a nice apartment. He used 20% of his first salary to support his family.
"He was a simple guy, very humble, and just a really good person who helped everyone he could, and that's what I like about him," says America's full-back, who lived with Richarlison in the dorms.
The boys who didn't have boots were given his by him. He has a good heart.
Even though his career has rocketed, he has remained humble and compassionate.
Everyone says the same things about his grandad and his great-grandad, they are humble, hard-working people.
We always told him to carry that with him. I always say that he must not lose that essence. He needs to keep his feet on the ground.
He does. He helps whoever he can whenever he comes to Nova Venecia. He would still walk up and down the streets in his flip-flops, playing football with the children in the fields, if it was up to him. He does more online because it is more dangerous for him.
Richarlison is the most vocal active player when it comes to social issues. He has helped raise awareness and funds across a broad spectrum of charitable work, including on deforestation, Brazil's rape crisis, and the importance of voting in this year's presidential elections.
He broke protocol when he received the most prestigious honor available to an athlete in his home state of Espirito Santo, after paying for a group of Brazilian students to fly to Taiwan to compete in an international maths quiz. He asked the regional government to invest more in education.
A year later, after organizing a charity match in Nova Venecia, he was named the community champion of the club.
He told the club's official website that all of them who play in big leagues and have space in the media have a great social responsibility.
At first, I wanted to buy a house for my parents, but then I realized I could do more.
Even as his club finds itself in a battle to stay in the top flight, nobody could question his commitment because of his popularity at the club. He has left every inch of his six-foot frame on the field.
It's not the typical characteristic of a Brazilian footballer, but it will bode well for his chances of success at the World Cup later this year.
Antonio is just a short walk from the bus station where it all began, and he says it is a dream he has had since he was a child.
He was just a little boy, now he is going to be playing. I told him he would play in the World Cup.
I told him that he would be the top scorer.
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