Getty Raphinha has yet to really impress at Barcelona.
Barcelona forward Raphinha has been enjoying himself at the World Cup with Brazil, playing a key role in the team’s stunning 4-1 win over South Korea in the last 16.
Raphinha has featured in all four of Brazil’s games in the competition so far and is an integral part of Tite’s starting XI. The Selecao go on to play Croatia in the quarter-finals and are the favorites to be crowned world champions.
The Barcelona forward has been asked about his thoughts on the World Cup and come up with a rather surprising response. Raphinha told TyC Sports that he hasn’t seen any of the other matches because he does not like watching football.
“We always seek to score as many goals as we can, we have very high-quality players and we know each other well” he said before adding: “I don’t watch anything from the World Cup. I don’t like to watch games, I prefer to watch movies or a series. Why do I have to know something about Messi or Mbappé, I don’t like it [watching football] I know they are the best and it’s fine like that.”
Raphinha’s comments will surprise fans who have spent the last few weeks glued to their screens watching the World Cup. The forward’s Brazil are reknown for being one of the most watchable teams on the planet and turned on the style against South Korea with an irrestisible performance full of attacking flair.
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Raphinha Hits Back At Brazil’s Critics
The Barcelona forward also hit back at some pundits who criticized his team for their celebrations against South Korea. Brazil celebrated their goals by dancing, and even included manager Tite in a routine at one point.
Raphinha swatted aside suggestions that his team were showing disrespect towards thir opponents and insisted he and his team-mates will continue celebrating in the same way, as reported by Goal.
“The problem is with those who don’t like it, because we’ll keep doing it. Dance symbolizes the joy of scoring a goal,” he said. “We don’t do it to disrespect, we don’t go in front of the opponent, we get together and everyone celebrates, it’s our moment, Brazil is celebrating. If they don’t like it, I don’t have much to say to them, we will continue.”
Brazil take on Croatia on Friday and a victory will send them through to a semi-final against either Argentina or the Netherlands. Raphinha could therefore come up against a certain Lionel Messi for a place in the final.
Barcelona Getting Back To Work
With the World Cup now at the knockout stages, Barcelona have started to turn their attentions back to domestic football. The Catalans return to action on December 31 against Espanyol and have started preparations this week.
Manager Xavi was back at work on Monday, December 5 and had first-teamers Hector Bellerin, Marcos Alonso, Inaki Pena, Franck Kessie, Sergi Roberto, and Ronald Araujo with him as Barca restarted training.
Bon dia, Xaviiiiii!!!!! 👋
The rest of the team will join the squad once their involvement in the World Cup is over, although Barcelona will also hand those players some time off before they are asked to report back to the club for training.
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Barcelona Forward Raphinha Makes Surprise World Cup Confession