Everton striker Richarlison claims to have received '10,000 WhatsApp messages in five minutes' after Neymar accidentally leaked his phone number during a Twitch live-stream.
In a fiesty Merseyside derby on Saturday afternoon the Brazilian forward was sent off for a high challenge on Liverpool midfelder Thiago Alcantara, sparking fury from many angry supporters online.
Richarlison later apologised for the tackle, releasing a statement on his official website to give his version of events.
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But days later, after Neymar filmed himself holding his mobile up to the camera while live streaming popular game Counter Strike on Twitch, the phone number of Richarlison appeared on screen.
The PSG striker soon confessed to his "mistake" seconds later, according to The Mirror, saying: "I think I've just shown your number without meaning to. I swear it was an accident."
Neymar then turned around the camera and got Richarlison to say hello to his viewers. "We're online. Give a wave." he said. "You're going to have to change your number now."
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His mistake led thousands of people to contact the Everton forward and, in response to the flurry of WhatsApp messages, Richarlison threatened to block those who called him.
"Thank you @neymar you are a genius." Richarlison wrote, before saying: "5 minutes and already has more than 10 thousand messages. Thank you @neymar."
As mentioned earlier, Richarlison has since apologised for his ill-timed challenge on Thiago Alcantara, who appears to have damaged his right knee from the force of the tackle.
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"Everyone who knows my background knows that I was never a violent player," the Brazilian wrote.
"I did not enter that dispute with the intention of hurting Thiago. When I saw that the crash was going to happen, I picked up my foot and hit him with my knee in the pass, which was inevitable due to the speed of the play.
"I already sent a message to him apologising and I also do it here publicly. I hope he hasn't been hurt and that everything is fine.
"I also apologise to my teammates, my club and my fans for leaving them with one less at the end of the game. Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do to change what happened, other than to reflect, work and move on."
Former Liverpool midfielder Steve McManaman was on commentary for BT Sport when the horrific tackle was made and told viewers he had to turn away as the replays were too much for him to handle.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Liverpool, SPORT, Football News, Football, Richarlison, Neymar, Premier League, Everton
