Endrick put his side 3-0 up in the 82nd minute, as he nodded home at the back post after seeing a corner flicked on. He then indulged in a celebration that did not go down well with his opponents, leading to an unsightly melee and a yellow card being flashed in his direction. Endrick was also substituted shortly afterwards.
Faced with the controversy caused, coach Abel Ferreira came to the defense of the Palmeiras striker during the press conference and made a point of clearing up any misunderstanding.
“He is a very good-hearted boy. He had made the same gesture with Del Valle. It's from a movie you all know what it is. Afterwards, he apologized, but there was no point”, said the coach.
“I understood the Liverpool crowd, but believe me, he did absolutely no provocation. This kid has a good thing, which is his heart and his head too,” he added.
The alviverde commander also revealed that he asked Endrick to always celebrate goals in the same way, as other great athletes in world football do.
Explaining his choice of goal celebration afterwards, Endrick said: “I am happy with this goal, the assist, and the victory. I celebrate the goal like this. It has nothing to do with racism. I did it against Independiente, and it was well received. It was a nice celebration. It was close to their fans and I spoke Spanish. Their defender, Mathias, understood and another player didn’t like it. I celebrate by imitating a monkey because I’m a fan of Planet of the Apes and I like the King Kong movie. What matters is that I am happy.”
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