Real Madrid-bound Endrick on World Cup hopes, admiring Ronaldo

Europe’s defenders better watch out — a striker is on his way who aims to be singing along to their pain.

Brazilian sensation Endrick joins Real Madrid when he turns 18 in the middle of next year. And despite his youth, he is a player who has already made the transition from promise to reality. Palmeiras produced a late burst to claim the Brazilian league on the final day of the season, snatching the title with eight wins and two draws in their last 11 games.

Their top scorer in the run in was Endrick — and time and time again he was coming up with the decisive goals. And, as rival defenders testified, he was doing it while humming a song to himself.

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“I do it to keep myself calm during the game,” Endrick says with a smile. “If my mind is relaxed then I’m taking better decisions.”

He will not be drawn on the repertoire. “There are a few songs going round my head, in different styles of music,” he says during a trip to New Balance HQ in Boston as part of his new footwear deal.

Endrick was dancing in the middle of Palmeiras’ match against Fluminense 😂 pic.twitter.com/gR1gHOjTKB

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 3, 2023

And it would not be a complete surprise if some of them were written well before he was born. There is a retro feel to him. When he recently turned up for duty to join the Brazil national team, his hair and clothes gave him the air of someone who had just stepped out of a black-and-white photo from the late 1950s. It was a marked contrast with the platinum hair favoured by many of his generation.

“My mum’s an influence,” he says. “But it’s my thing as well. I watch films and pick up tips on how to present myself, especially because I’m going to Europe, where the look is less scandalous, more formal.”

But inside the retro look is a thoroughly modern citizen of planet football, who from the very start had his sights set on starring on the other side of the Atlantic.

“I grew up with two dreams. I watched the Brazilian League and the Copa Libertadores, and so I really wanted to make my mark in Brazil first. But moving to a big European club was something I had always dreamt about. I would watch Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid winning the Champions League, it was something natural to feel a connection with the club.

“It’s a club I’ve loved since I was a kid, and so it’s really good to know that I’m going there. But I’m not there yet. Obviously, it’s nice to think about teaming up with Rodrygo, Vinícius Júnior, Jude Bellingham. But at the moment I’m watching as a supporter. I’m not thinking so much about how I can fit into the team. For the next few months, I’ll be a Palmeiras player and that’s where my focus will be,” Endrick said.

He has considerable history with the club. Originally from Brasilia, Endrick moved to Sao Paulo to join Palmeiras at the age of 10. His father sent out videos of his talented son to interested clubs. Palmeiras came back with an offer of an opportunity for the son and a job as a caretaker for the father, and so Endrick came through the ranks of the traditional club of Sao Paulo’s Italian community. One of the club’s nicknames is “the academy,” and that is the way that Endrick used it. Palmeiras for him has been a home, but also a kind of academic institution preparing him for the challenges ahead.

“I take my work very seriously,” he says. “So since I’ve had contact with the senior squad I’ve made a point of observing, of listening and talking to the experienced players, such as Gustavo Gómez, Weverton and Marcos Rocha (veteran centre-back, goalkeeper and right-back respectively) to learn about everything that’s going on and all that’s involved in being a professional footballer.”

One of the things he has already learned is that stardom takes a toll. “I try to answer all the questions that the journalists ask me. There are some questions that can make you feel uncomfortable. The only place I have privacy now is at home with my family,” he says.

“It’s where I can mess around with my brother, my parents, my girlfriend and my sister are there. So home is the place that I’m most calm, where I have the most fun, surrounded by my family. But if that is my favourite place, number two on the list is out there on the pitch — that’s my amusement park, my Disneyland,” Endrick adds.

The rides are all the more enjoyable when he is free to roam. “In the youth teams at Palmeiras I played as an attacking midfielder, on the left wing, the right wing, and now as a centre-forward I like to have the freedom to move around.”

One of the aspects of Endrick’s game that stands out is his appreciation of space. A stocky figure, he has a terrific burst of pace and an excellent left foot, but it is his ability to find the space to hurt the opposition that makes him especially dangerous. And there is that almost nonchalant acceptance of responsibility.

The game that effectively won the Brazilian title was at the start of November away to runaway leaders Botafogo. Palmeiras were 3-0 down at half-time and went back to the dressing room expecting a rocket from their fiery Portuguese coach Abel Ferreira. They did not get it.

Instead, as Endrick recalls, “he said that we could not possibly play any worse.” A teammate said that Ferreira told them they should approach the second half as if it was 0-0. The message worked. The team calmly returned to the field and won 4-3. Endrick scored two goals and the cameras showed him demanding the ball, an astonishing display of confidence that quickly saw him promoted to the Brazil squad for last month’s World Cup qualifiers.

This was another dream come true, but things did not work out as he had hoped. He came off the bench in defeats to Colombia and Argentina, making little impression as Brazil lost two qualifiers in a row and lost a qualifier at home — both for the first time.