Raphinha's ex-Leeds United teammate eyeing World Cup reunion but focus on Neymar
Some high-profile former Leeds United stars could reunite on the world stage.
Crysencio Summerville has jokingly called out former Leeds United teammate Raphinha for not getting in contact after his first World Cup goal.
Summerville remains a relative newcomer to the Netherlands national team, earning his first ever call-up for this summer’s tournament. The West Ham winger made his international debut in a warm-up friendly defeat to Algeria and got off to a flying start in competitive action.
A curling left-footed finish in Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Japan opened Summerville’s World Cup account before former Leeds teammate Raphinha. The Brazilian is into his second swing at the tournament but failed to score in Qatar and didn’t play a major role in last week’s 1-1 draw with Morocco.
The former Leeds pair, who left for a combined £83million, could meet in the knockout stages if Brazil and the Netherlands go head-to-head, although Summerville has eyes on another famous Brazilian. He told Dutch outlet Voetbal International: “I love watching football, seeing how everyone plays, and discovering new tactics.
“The nice thing is that we do that as a team, together. Even back then, I was already watching clips of him [Neymar] on YouTube. Playing against him would truly be a boyhood dream; he is my idol. And yes, then I also run into Raphinha. No, he hasn’t called me yet after my goal against Japan.”
Summerville has actually been starting at right-wing for the Netherlands which makes for an interesting potential match up in his next game. The Dutch side face Sweden on Saturday evening which could see the former Leeds man come directly up against current Whites squad member Gabriel Gudmundsson.
Sweden currently top Group F as the only team to win their opening game, thumping Tunisia 5-1 - a result that led to the Tunisian boss Sabri Lamouchi being sacked. Any result for Gudmundsson’s side would give them one foot in the knockout stages ahead of their final group-stage meeting with Ao Tanaka’s Japan.