Since he has had a much greater role in the Real Madrid shirt, Vinicius Jr. began to be a reference in the fight against racism. In the Spanish team, the Brazilian player went through various moments in which he suffered discrimination on the field of play by fans of rival teams. Every time he has the opportunity, he refers to this matter and in the run-up to the match in which Brazil will play against Spain, this Tuesday, at the Santiago Bernabéu, The 23-year-old footballer burst into tears when faced with a question, leaving a reflection for everyone.
One of the questions that Vinicius received at the press conference had to do with racism and in the first part of his response, he expressed: “Receiving insults is something quite sad, it is something that happens here in every game, every day. Every complaint of mine makes me very sad. But like all black people in the world, it is sad. This is something that is happening. Not only in Spain, also in the world. It happened to my father too, they chose a white man over a black man. It’s something I notice, and I fight because they have chosen me. I fight so that in the near future it does not happen to anyone again,” said the attacker.
His response continued: “I thank all the Spanish players who are always supporting me. Not only in Spain, there is a lot of racism everywhere. More and more many have shown me their support. I hope that in the future this will become less and less and there will be fewer people who go through this. I understand that people talk about what they talk about in the field. Of course I have a lot to improve, I’m still 23 years old, and it’s a natural progression. You leave Brazil very young without having learned so many things. I’ve been watching this for a long time, and I feel more and more sad, and I have less and less will to play. Nobody is supporting me.”
After that part of the answer, The player broke down and began to dry his tears with one of his hands. From there, everyone present in the conference room began to applaud him while the Brazilian recovered from crying. Later, he expressed: “The lack of punishment is what frustrates me the most, that all those people leave without anything happening after they do nothing. In Barcelona a case was filed and I would like it not to happen so that people stop saying what they say. So that children do not say those things, because it is true that when I was a child I did not know what racism was.”
Furthermore, he asked for the eradication of discrimination with a phrase that leads to reflection: “We can all be together. Things can change. Black people know that because we are black, we have to do twice as much. Equality is best for everyone. The defense against racism is not strong enough to fight it. “Only black people know what I’m suffering.”
The press conference continued and Vinicius referred to whether he ever thought about leaving Real Madrid because of everything he had to go through: “I have thought so much about leaving here… Because if I leave here, I’m going to give it to racists what they want. I want to continue here, in the best club in the world, so that they continue to see my face. I continue to evolve for these things, to be the joy of all the people who go to the stadium. Racists are a minority, and it doesn’t always happen. But since I’m daring, I’m from Madrid… It’s complicated. But I will continue, because the president supports me, the club supports me…”, he responded without fear.
Finally, he mentioned a sports leader who fought against the problem of discrimination: ”Mohamed Ali was an example, and I am here to speak on behalf of Brazilians. Because many defend me. “It’s not like other times when I conceive the questions as an attack and I couldn’t answer.” And he concluded: “Playing football is very important, but the fight against racism is very important. Let people of color have a normal life. If this were the case, I would go to my club’s games focused only on playing. “The only thing I want is to continue playing and for everyone to have a normal life.”
Brazil is preparing to play the second of its friendly matches on this FIFA date. In the first they defeated England 1-0, last Saturday at Wembley. This Tuesday they will play against Spain at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid and will help the Dorival Junior team continue their preparation for the Copa América, a competition in which they will be in group D with Colombia, Paraguay and Costa Rica.