We’re delighted to announce that Endrick has dropped a new blood-boiling celebration
Unless you’ve been living on the moon, or certain parts of Cumbria, you will have heard a lot about Endrick in recent months.
The latest wonderkid from Brazil is their latest brightest hope, the player that will bring back the World Cup-winning glory days to football’s flagship nation, burn brighter than Neymar and for longer than Ronaldinho.
“He’s got it all!”, supporters exclaim from the Amazon rainforest to the metropolises of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Poise, speed, control which makes you wonder whether the ball should file a restraining order against Endrick’s feet.
They’ve got a point; still only 17, Endrick will join Real Madrid this summer from Palmieras in a transfer that looks set to define a generation.
He’s already announced himself to the Bernabeu with a goal-scoring performance for Brazil against Spain in March, just days after scoring the winner against England at Wembley.
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The forward even tucks his shirt in, a wonderful throwback to a less image-obsessed era before Endrick inevitably follows the well-worn path of tattoos and Coca-Cola adverts.
Although, to a more cynical eye, Endrick’s penchant for elaborate goal celebrations already suggests a player with half an eye on the future trademarking of human expression.
As Palmeiras sought to put their Copa Libertadores match against Liverpool (the Uruguayans, not Jurgen Klopp’s men) to bed, Endrick rose like a toddler on a trampoline to nod home a corner at the far post. 3-0. Job done.
With the Brazilian commentator filling the air with jubilant vowels a short distance away, the goalscorer spotted a prime opportunity to send his opponent’s blood pressure skyward.
Eschewing more conservative goal celebrations, Endrick treated everybody to his best King Kong impression which quickly instigated a brawl between seething Liverpool players and his smirking Palmeiras team-mates.
Endrick celebrating like King Kong starts a scuffle and he gets a yellow card against Liverpool 83′
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The 17-year-old previously whipped out his homage to Hollywood-friendly gorillas during a Libertadores match in Ecuador.
On social media, he posted the image of his celebration against Independiente del Valle with the caption “Kong”, and in an interview, he confirmed what many suspected: the new celebration is in honor of King Kong.
“It’s because I’ve seen the King Kong and Godzilla movie, which is the New Empire, and I’m a big fan of Kong and the Panther, too. So it’s a new celebration for me,” Endrick said after scoring.
The player has now adopted the emoji of a gorilla in his biography. The animal is accompanied by a tornado, which represents the brand of its sponsor of sports equipment.
Already you can see a footballer’s potential being commodified in expectation of greatness. But the less world-weary among us can surely be heartened by the youngster’s creativity off the pitch matching his increasing brilliance on it.
Endrick is already starting to prepare for the transfer and with the emotions he will have to deal with when saying goodbye to his teammates he will leave in Brazil.
“We’re not a team, we’re a family. I even joke that we spend more time together than with our family. And on Monday we’re already seeing the same people,” he said in April 2024.
There will inevitably be ups and downs when Endrick moves to Europe, although you sense he couldn’t have hand-picked a better club for himself than Madrid.
We can’t wait to see the player strut his stuff at the Bernabeu and are positively drooling with anticipation over what other p*ss-boiling celebrations he has up his sleeve.
It won’t be long before even those certain parts of Cumbria will be well-acquainted with the name of Endrick.
By Michael Lee