The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham news and links for Tuesday, October 18

good morning everyone

A few weeks ago, during an international friendly against Tunisia, a banana was thrown in the direction of Richarlison after he had scored a goal. Fred, who plays for Manchester United, kicked the banana away as Richarlison celebrateed with his compatriots.

In a tweet following the incident, Richarlison said (via a rough translation): “As long as they say “blah blah blah” and don’t punish, it will continue like this, happening every day and everywhere.”

Richarlison recently sat down with the Premier League to discuss that moment in greater detail. He also read a letter from 25-year-old Tottenham fan Vinicius, who hails from Brazil.

“I’ve been scared of suffering what you’ve suffered,” Vinicius wrote.

“The thought of racism kept me up at night and, for much of my childhood.”

The video, approximately eight minutes long (and in Portuguese), is worth your time.

Richarlison confronts his own past - some of it the immediate past - confrontations with dealing with racism.

Watching the video, it still weighs heavily on him today.

“We live in a difficult time but I’m still dreaming of the day when racism ends,” Richarlison said in Portuguese.

”People saw what happened in that game. This type of thing needs to be punished so that other people don’t do the same.”

A difficult question remains: What punishment will be great enough to root this out of football, and out of society?

Richarlison is dreamer. A beautiful, whole-hearted man who dreams of a world more opening and welcoming than the one that he was born into. Credit to him, too, for understanding that one must act to make dreams a reality.

If not his dream, then maybe someone else’s.

As reported last week, Richarlison divulged that he donates a percentage of his salary to a Brazilian hospital that supports cancer patients.

“I wasn’t born in a golden cradle so, now I’m in a better place, I try to help as much as possible, mainly people in Brazil,” the Spurs No. 9 said.

Keep on dreaming, Richy.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Hot & Heavy, by Lucy Dacus

And now for your links:

Aston Villa reportedly to target Mauricio Pochettino ($$) to replace Steven Gerrard

Alasdair Gold: Djed Spence on what Antonio Conte has been teaching him

Karim Benzema wins Ballon d’Or 2022

Panel finds Uefa’s Champions League Final organisation was a failure

FA Cup first round draw pits non-league club South Shields against Forest Green