A place in the World Cup represents the achievement of a goal that, before reaching adulthood, the young man on the court, Richard Ríos, could not imagine. The turnaround in the Colombian’s professional life occurred due to an opportunity received in Brazilian sports, which resulted in a career at Gávea and later evidence at Allianz Parque. Currently, at the age of 26 and defending the colors of Benfica, the midfield athlete figures as an important player in the list of the Colombian team, which is part of group K of the international competition together with the teams from Portugal, Uzbekistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The characteristic way of carrying the ball glued to the boots and the dribbling in small spaces are direct legacies of the period when he played on the ballroom floors of the Antioquia department. The player developed in futsal, joined the youth squads of his home country and managed to reach the milestone of facing Brazilian star Falcão. Simultaneously with these achievements, he accumulated negative experiences in his attempts to migrate to traditional lawns.
In 2018, the athlete traveled to Brazilian territory to serve the Colombian national futsal team in the under-20 category during a continental tournament. The young man’s performances aroused the interest of Flamengo’s evaluators, starting an extensive period of evaluations that culminated in his effective signing.
After going through barriers in the initial moments, the athlete managed to establish good communication and amazed everyone with his speed in mastering the local language. Language learning was driven by the consumption of music from the carioca funk genre. On that same day, the midfielder emerged as one of the main figures of the youth team and won the national youth tournament title.
The turnaround at Guarani and arrival at Palmeiras
The following year came a difficult time. The young man had rare chances to play in Flamengo’s famous professional squad, making a temporary transfer to the Mexican football scene an alternative to accumulate minutes on the field.
However, at the beginning of his journey in North America, the midfielder faced a serious injury problem that interrupted his sporting activities for the space of a semester.
Returning to Brazilian football, the player was sent on a new loan, being welcomed by the Guarani ranks. Fully recovered in the clinical part, the professional achieved a solid sequence of clashes in the Campinas club and, after completing two dozen presentations, aroused the monitoring of coach Abel Ferreira.
The transfer to Palmeiras meant a profound change of level in the Colombian’s professional career. The good technical resources added to the versatility to fill different roles in the central zone of the field paved his place among the starters. Reports of his good performances crossed the border and, within a period of five months, the first official call to serve Colombia’s main squad occurred.
At the end of the 2023 season, the midfielder reached the national champion’s cup and played a prominent role in the final push promoted by Palmeiras. In the following competitive cycle, the athlete obtained a permanent place in his country’s starting team. The performances demonstrated in the campaign that brought second place in the 2024 Copa América served to project its name to the overseas market.
After spending thirty months playing for Palmeiras, the player transferred to Benfica, involved in a financial transaction worth 27 million euros, which represented the largest financial contribution made by the Lisbon club in its history.
In addition to his success on the playing field, the athlete has become a major attraction on digital platforms. Recordings of choreography and demonstrations of technical ability on the internet attracted a significant number of internet users to the Colombian’s profile on the social network Instagram. Currently, he has 5.2 million subscribers and maintains strong engagement with both the public in Brazil and in his homeland.
Difficulties in Portugal and Mourinho’s jab
The initial period in European football did not go as intended by the Colombian athlete. The slow process to reach the expected level in the Benfica team triggered strong demands from the media and fans, which called into question the sporting performance and the significant amount of money spent on negotiations.
The questions also came from the club’s management environment. After a clash against Chelsea, valid for Europe’s main club competition, the player followed the statements of coach José Mourinho, who pointed out in a statement that the midfielder demonstrated a lack of technical level in pressure marking scenarios.
Gradually, the athlete reestablished his confidence and secured more playing time in the main lineup, demonstrating numbers of goals and assists never seen before in his career, totaling eight goals scored and six decisive passes in his debut year in Europe. A clinical problem in the clavicle region interrupted his sequence of matches at the beginning of this calendar year, but he was used again in the final stretch of the competitions.
With good body condition and perfectly integrated into the Portuguese club’s routine, the midfielder now focuses on repeating his previous statistical performance and taking the qualities acquired in the ballroom to the World Cup pitch.
The Colombian team’s first match in the international tournament is scheduled to take place on June 17th, in a duel against Uzbekistan, starting at 11pm official Brasília time, taking place on the Azteca Stadium lawn.
