The Brazilian from Maranhão who lit up Argentina: Rick Jhonatan scores twice to rescue Sampaoli's Clausura debut
The forward from Maranhão was named man of the match in Talleres' 4–0 thrashing of Platense and heaped praise on manager Jorge Sampaoli.
Two games, two defeats, zero goals scored. Jorge Sampaoli's start to the Argentine Clausura was anything but what Talleres supporters had hoped for. Then a 26-year-old from Maranhão stepped in to change the story.
Rick Jhonatan — a product of Ceará who had a spell at Ludogorets in Bulgaria — was the standout performer in a 4–0 away demolition of Platense. He opened the scoring, set up the second, and then found the net again for the third. A direct hand in three of the four goals. Named man of the match. A perfect night.
"It was a very special night, the kind every striker dreams of," the forward said, according to ge. And he didn't stop there, lavishing praise on the manager he is learning from. "He's a fantastic guy, a coach who lives football with incredible intensity," Rick said of Sampaoli.
Seeing a Brazilian shine in the top flight of Argentine football is already a rarity. Seeing a Northeastern Brazilian be the undisputed star of Sampaoli's first win in the country — that has a different flavour entirely.
Talleres had lost to Newell's Old Boys and Vélez Sarsfield before stringing this result together. Rick knows the work is far from over: "I know we still have a lot of work ahead of us and we want to keep improving throughout this season," he added.
The next chance to build on that improvement comes on Tuesday, at the Estadio Mario Kempes, against Lanús. Sampaoli's Talleres — and Rick's — want to prove the thrashing was no one-off.