"We were at risk of relegation. I was exhausted. I lost weight, and I could barely play an entire game. I had been injured in the Olympics, and I was injured again at the club. My body was asking me to stop," the 26-year-old told
The Players' Tribune of his last season at Goodison Park.
"But it was simple: I had to help save the club. Everton do not belong in the Championship. Can you imagine? We had no choice. We had to stay up. To concentrate on helping the team, I did a two-month fast on my cell phone. I completely turned off my apps and social media. I only used the alarm clock app to wake up in the morning. Before the match against Crystal Palace, I was destroyed. I knew this was going to be my last game of the season. I thought, we need to save ourselves now at Goodison Park, because the final round is against Arsenal away."
"I took some medicine and an injection and got down on my knees to pray. I refused to take a medical exam, because I knew that if I did it, they wouldn’t let me play. I had to sweat blood that day," Richarlison said of the Palace victory. "When we scored the third goal, you can see that I had nothing left to give. I hit the ground with my head and said to the coach in tears: 'I’m done'. It was my last breath, my last sacrifice, my last game as an Evertonian. A moment I will carry with me for the rest of my life, because I loved playing for this club. In the end, we stayed up. Where the club belongs. And I’m very proud of the sacrifice I made that year."
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