Vinícius Juníor – the story of the golden Brazilian boy

There is a story behind every world-class player, just like the one whose name is Vinícius Juníor. The editors of the Spanish daily MARCA went to his hometown of São Gonçalo, where the talented Brazilian took his first steps in football.

Vinícius and his first football steps at Flamengo

The editors met Carlos Eduardo Abrantes there. The man who first spotted the footballer’s talent in Flamengo’s academy. “He came to his first training session at the age of six. Even then he was better than everyone else, even though he played with older boys”, the coach recounted to MARCA Cacau newspaper. “He was a lot different. A shy kid off the field, but once he got the ball to his feet, he was suddenly full of confidence”, he added.

That Vinícius did not have it easy, as is sometimes the case with Brazilians, was confirmed by his coach. “His family was poor. His father had to go to work in faraway Sao Paulo to support the family. Vinícius had to travel 150 km a day with his mother until he was 13 to get to training.”

Will Vinícius win the Ballon d’Or at Real Madrid?

It didn’t take long for the skilful Brazilian to be on the radar of the European giants. At the age of seventeen, he signed a dream contract with Real Madrid, for whom he still plays today. “His father came to me one day and just said he had a deal with Real Madrid. I later learned that even before that, Barcelona was also interested. But then Real came along and what happened happened”, describes Cacau.

He is convinced that his charge can one day win the Ballon d’Or if he continues to work hard as he has done so far. “The Ballon d’Or is the result of your work. You have to work hard, concentrate and if it happens, it will be natural. Without having to talk about it.”

Vinícius’ love for his native Brazil

A few metres from the pitch, MARCA editors stumbled upon the Municipal Paulo Freire school, home to the Vini Jr. Institute, a special project of the Real Madrid star. “This adventure was born out of the desire of Vinícius and his family to help with the quality of education in Brazil, especially the public one,” executive director Victor Rodrigues told reporters.

“Things got worse with the pandemic and the children didn’t have the education they needed for almost two years. We needed to streamline the learning process, bring it back to the schools and do it all in an innovative way. Vinícius came in at the beginning of this project and it’s amazing to see him in the place where he spent his childhood. He is amagnificent idol and a positive motivation for the local children”, he uttered.

In the current season, the still twenty-one-year-old is experiencing the best season of his professional career. Alongside Karim Benzema, he has become the terror of La Liga defences and with twelve goals he is the second top scorer in the league behind the French canon. For Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, he is currently an indispensable part of the club’s offense and we will see in the future if the prediction of his first coach from Brazil will one day come true.

Source: MARCA