How fitting, too, that this World Cup’s golden moment (so far) came in its golden arena. All eyes were on Richarlison, and the beauty of this sport at its finest. After all those pleas to “focus on the football”, this was the moment, you suspect, they were waiting for.
Perhaps the Qatari organisers of this World Cup, and indeed Fifa, will be hoping it proves infectious for the rest of us.
The joy of Richarlison’s goal, a delight in its sheer Brazilianness as much as anything else, proved infectious for his team. Richarlison’s masterpiece had reminded them of who they are and what they are born to do, and Serbia were fortunate that this game did not end with a more emphatic scoreline. The passes were travelling with an extra purpose, the wingers travelling with an extra speed. Post-Richarlison, it was as if a switch had been flicked for Tite’s side. It might also take something truly remarkable to oust Brazil as a team. One touch to flick the ball into the air, another to rip it into the net. It will take something truly remarkable to oust Richarlison’s effort, all springy power and fluid technique. We are only through one round of the most controversial football tournament in the history of the game, but already we might have witnessed its finest goal. Richarlison took off, his back to goal and his feet somehow over his head, to ignite his team’s campaign and perhaps this World Cup as a whole. And then, a flash of yellow, a burst of light. Brazil were a little disjointed and, dare we say it, a little unimaginative for much of this game against an organised Serbia. Sometimes all it takes is a single moment, or in this case a single kick of a football, for an entire arena, and an entire team, to be transformed. The drums were thumping in the stands of the Lusail Stadium, the traditional sound of World Cup football colliding with the modern opulence of this enormous Qatari arena, and the Brazilian boys were suddenly dancing to the samba beat. Goals like this are what World Cups are about
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