Former Barcelona midfielder, Rivaldo has revealed that it will be difficult for Gabriel Jesus to bench Richarlison in the Brazil squad in the ongoing 2022 World Cup.
In a chat with Betfair, Rivaldo believes Jesus must be patient for his World Cup chance after Richarlison’s impressive performance vs Serbia.
He also feels that he is a brilliant partner for Neymar and Vinicius Junior in attack as he causes opposition defenders ‘a lot of problems’.
Rivaldo said: “If Gabriel Jesus was fighting to become a starter in the Brazilian national team his space was closed by Richarlison against Serbia and now the Arsenal striker just needs to be patient enough to wait for an opportunity that should come if Brazil gets to the latter stages of the tournament.
“If that’s the case, then he will have at least a chance as starter to prove Tite was wrong by letting him on the bench, anyway it will be tough because Richarlison is now full of confidence after scoring twice at the start of the competition.”
“When you score the winning goals, of course you’re the star of the day but I would also like to highlight how strong Brazil were collectively, always having the control of the match against Serbia and creating them a lot of problems through the 90 minutes of play.
“Richarlison was the one dismantling Serbia’s resistance with an opportune touch for the first goal and a superb execution on the second which I think is the most beautiful goal of the tournament so far. I see Richarlison taking a lot of confidence from this match and having a solid campaign that might guide him to the top of the scorers list at the end of the tournament.
“He seems to have a particular taste for scoring with the national team and after such a prolific performance I’m sure he is now seen as an absolute certain starter and an obvious candidate for the 2022 World Cup Golden Boot.”
