“It was a very difficult moment. It’s a wound that still remains and that we have to try to heal as quickly as possible.”

That is how Endrick, sitting down with Brazilian broadcaster Globo, described the way the country’s earliest World Cup exit since 1990 still sits with him. Brazil went out in the round of 16 on 5 July at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, beaten 2-1 by Norway, with an Erling Haaland brace and a Neymar penalty in reply.

Endrick came off the bench that night and had the chance that could have changed the game. A pass in behind reached him with the goal open, but a heavy first touch let it slip away. Nearly three months on, the 20-year-old is still turning it over.

Rodrygo, Bellingham and the Brasileirão

Back at Real Madrid, the striker has leaned on the club’s Brazilian contingent, and in particular on Rodrygo. Two of Europe’s biggest names have made a point of joining that circle.

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“Valverde asks us about Brazilian football, and Bellingham does too,” Endrick told Globo.

Federico Valverde and Jude Bellingham are, according to Endrick, regular visitors to the Brazilian corner of the dressing room, keen to keep an eye on the Brasileirão and on the players coming through back home.

‘The hard thing is getting up at 5am’

The interview turned, inevitably, to the pressure that comes with being a Real Madrid number nine at 20. Endrick pushed back on the idea that his life is a hard one.

“It’s not difficult to be a footballer,” he said. “What is difficult is having to get up at five in the morning to work Monday to Sunday. Football brings us wonderful things.”

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Endrick joined Real Madrid from Palmeiras and spent last season on loan at Lyon before returning to the Spanish capital in July. His minutes in the opening weeks of the new season have been limited, with Kylian Mbappe leading the line and a queue of forwards behind him.

Back on the pitch with Brazil

The international break has at least given Endrick the shirt he wants most. He started for Brazil in a 1-1 friendly against Australia in Townsville on 25 September, playing 65 minutes for Carlo Ancelotti’s side before being replaced. He did not score.

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