‘I told them I needed just one pass’

"A few weeks ago, I was crying, not sure if it would come," Richarlison reminisced after scoring two goals to lift Brazil to a 2-0 win in Serbia in their 2022 World Cup opener, reminding fans of the calf injury that appeared to have shattered his dream of playing in the World Cup for Brazil.

"On the day of my medical exam, it was one of the longest days of my life. I remember it was a day off and I went for the exam. I stayed on the stretcher waiting for the result to come out.  The doctors went back and forth, I got nervous and time didn't pass. But I think it was worth all the effort in my recovery. God saw my effort, saw how much I wanted to come to the World Cup. That's it. Now it's time to continue!"

"We did the main thing, which was to win the first game, which is very important. Now it's time to think about the second game and rest well. It was the first, now there are six more important games."

The last player to score twice in a World Cup game was striker Neymar, at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil against Cameroon.

In an interview after the victory, Brazil's No. 9 said he told his teammates at halftime that he would only need one ball to reach the goal. He did so twice, first with an opportunistic lunge to a rebound and then bagging a sublime second that looked like it was made on Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach.

"Today at halftime I talked to them and said I needed a ball, and it arrived. I was prepared and managed to score. It was a wonderful night, now we have six more games to go to achieve our goal."

Speaking about the great goal, Richarlison remembered the goal he scored in a training session in Turin in the preparation stage before leaving for Qatar.

"I don't know if you followed, but I scored a similar goal in training in Italy. It's like I said, do it in training, do it in the game. Today I had the opportunity to volley and hit a beautiful shot. So I hope to continue like this, focused. We scored two goals and I'm going to get more, I want more", said the player.

Richarlison's sparkling start also banished the voodoo over Brazil's No. 9 jersey. Since Fred, against Cameroon in the group stage in the 2014 World Cup, their No. 9s had failed to score.

"When you wear the No. 9 jersey with the Brazilian national team, all you want to do is score goals," he said. "With these teammates, I'm sure the goals will come."

Others, including his Frenchman Hugo Lloris, who plays alongside the Brazilian at Tottenham, took note.

"I'm happy for him. He's probably the least fancied player of the team but he is a fighter and showed yesterday the part of genius that is in him," Lloris said.

His teammates were equally effusive in their praise.

"He's a great guy. He deserves it. That's Richarlison. You give him a chance, he scores. You should see him in training. He shoots from anywhere and everywhere, all sorts of angles. He's an incredible player," teammate Antony said.