Endrick’s football attracts attention. The boy was a phenomenon at the grassroots level, it took him a while to get going as a professional – which is absolutely normal, it must be said – and now he’s leaving us with our mouths watering, thinking about the long future that lies ahead. It’s a shame that the future will be far from Brazilian football, so it’s good to take the opportunity to see him up close now, while he’s still wearing the Palmeiras shirt.
More than football, however, what draws attention is the boy’s level of maturity. Born on July 21, 2006, Endrick is only 17 years old. At this age, a large proportion of young people have not left school yet. Others left not because they advanced to college but because of the difficulties imposed by life. Invariably, we are talking about a complex phase of adolescence. If there’s one thing teenagers are, it’s immature. There is a lack of experience, a lack of falls, mistakes, successes, depth.
Endrick speaks like someone who has experienced everything in life – and experienced nothing. It doesn’t sound arrogant, it’s not arrogance. It’s preparation. And, of course, it’s personality. I don’t think he doesn’t need to leave home, as he said yesterday at the press conference he gave on the eve of “just” a Brazil x Argentina match. But he needs to be prepared for the package that comes with being a football player. In the package, it has everything. Fake friendships, women on top, businessmen trying to extract as much money as possible, clubs that treat you like merchandise, the press and fans deifying and massacring you. The more a boy is prepared for this, the more he will escape the traps and benefit from the opportunities.
