With Vinicius Jr, for many of his followers there is no doubt that it will always be a question of when, not if.
After being tipped from the start to lead the field, the Real Madrid striker suffered a setback on Monday by finishing second behind Rodri in the Ballon d’Or, having been a clear favorite for much of the match. manufacture.
The verdict definitely caused a stir: Real Madrid no longer sent representatives to the ceremony in protest of the award, and journalists and politicians in Brazil called it “injustice.”
The 24-year-old’s reaction to failure was to post once on X: “I’ll do it 10 times if I have to. They’re not ready.”
And, ahead of Real Madrid’s Champions League match against AC Milan on Tuesday, Vinicius can prove that this was just a blip in his rise to leadership of the pitch.
“He has incredible courage, he always had it,” Carlos Noval, a former Flamengo youth football coordinator who has known Vinicius since he was 10, told BBC Sport.
“Along the way, you’d see people looking at it for the first day and immediately realizing it was built differently.
“I remember him playing in the Votorantim Cup, which is like the Brazilian U-15 championship, and it was absolutely spectacular. There were like two, three goals in each game. He was unstoppable.
“Later, from time to time, a Manchester United scout would sit next to me and say, ‘I’ve never seen a 14-year-old do what he does; therefore distract his senior help from the pitch.’ “From the tone, he’s going some distance, a long way.”
He has come very far, but it has not been an easy road.
Even growing up in Sao Gonçalo, a city on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro controlled by drug gangs and where you simply cannot move freely, did not prepare Vinicius for what he would face in Spain following his 2018 move from Flamengo to Real Madrid, when I was 18 years old.
Since becoming a key player in Real’s team, La Liga has referred 21 racist incidents involving the superstar to local prosecutors, as a result of regular abuse from the stands, monkey chants and an effigy hanging from a bridge directed towards him.
In June, three Valencia fans were sentenced to eight months in prison for hate crimes against Vinicius, in the first conviction for cases related to racism in Spanish football stadiums.
“I no longer suffer from racism. I am the tormentor of racists,” the 24-year-old later posted on social media.
“Could alt-racists be afraid, ashamed, and hide in the shadows? Otherwise, I’ll be here to get you.”
