The story behind Alisson's World Cup moustache
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After the match against Serbia, the Brazilian player who spent maximum time at the Mixed Zone interacting with journalists was goalkeeper Alisson Becker. The Liverpool goalkeeper's impressive moustache had also garnered attention. However, for the match against Switzerland, the 30-year-old ditched his moustache for a clean-shaven look. After the game, he did not stop to speak to the media.
It was then a Romanian journalist tried to pester him for a comment, but Alisson made it clear that he did not want to talk. When the Romanian told him he just wanted to pass on a message from Lobond, Alisson stopped walking and turned around. "Lobond asked me to tell you that you looked pretty good with the moustache," the Romanian told him. It brought a smile to Alisson's clean-shaven face. "Convey my regards to Lobont," he replied and started walking.
Alisson and former Romanian goalkeeper Bogdan Lobont were teammates at Serie A side AS Roma. The duo has not met each other since Alisson joined Liverpool in 2018. While watching the match between Brazil and Serbia, Lobont spotted Alisson sporting a new-look moustache and he immediately rang up the journalist and asked him to send his love to his old friend.
Alisson, who has so far kept a clean-sheet in the tournament, revealed that his new look was in support of Novembro Azul, known as Movember in the UK. A goodwill ambassador for the World Health Organization, Alisson joined the initiative to raise awareness on the diagnosis and prevention of prostate and testicular cancer.
If it was Alisson who 'took on' mediapersons after Brazil's first match, the job was assigned to Gabriel Jesus after their 1-0 win over Switzerland. Although Jesus did not get much playing time as he was introduced to the field only in the 73rd minute, he spent around an hour at the Mixed Zone, tackling the tricky questions thrown at him by journalists from across the globe. Seemingly exhausted, he finally said: I'm tired, please let me have some rest."