What a joy I felt when Real Madrid was crowned the Champions League champion of 2022. Especially for the Brazilians who play in the team, as is the case of the striker Vinicius Jr.
Vinicius Jr. is undoubtedly the best Brazilian of the 2022 season to play in one of the great European soccer leagues. And this fact draws a lot of attention for some aspects, such as the excessive criticism he suffered (both from the Brazilian and the Spanish press), as well as the episodes of racism he constantly experiences, but mostly by the way he shows with his dedication that he can evolve more every day. This last characteristic becomes even more valuable in times when Brazilian soccer is represented by bad personalities such as Neymar and a style of soccer that gives us disgust.
Brazilian soccer has always been characterized by dribbling, and rehearsed moves that used to take our breath away and upset any defender. Today’s modern soccer does not allow the development of the player’s creativity, but a style of play with more passes, ball control, and construction of collective plays, etc. Brazil’s national team can’t do either one or the other. And his coach, Tite, demonstrates in my view that he can’t bring out the best in players by insisting on limited lineups, and centralizing plays on Neymar.
Coming back to Vini Jr., it’s very nice to see him mature in the Real Madrid team, and how Carlo Ancelotti, a coach who knows how to get the best out of his potential, made Vinicius turn himself from an unpopular player in Spain (under former coach Zidane) to a star. Also allowing him to form one of the biggest attacking partnerships next to what I consider today, the best player in the world, Karin Benzema.
Although, Vinicius still hasn’t managed to show his full potential in the Brazilian national team. And this may be due to the tactical model adopted by the coach Tite. I would say that this tactical model could even keep him away from the starting lineup in Qatar’s World Cup, in November, if Tite decides to go with the center forward Richarlison (Everton’s player). Richarlison, on the other hand, despite being a good striker, similar to other Brazilian players, adopt a style of soccer created by Neymar of hurling himself to the ground and rolling to cry foul. This style is, so to speak, gross at least.