Brazilian Side Flamengo Releases Strong Statement Backing Former Player Vinicius Jr.
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr. scored the only goal in the first leg of the Champions League playoff against Benfica. It was a fantastic strike, deserving to win any game, and he celebrated in true Vini Jr. style.
Not long after the goal, Vinicius drew the referee's attention to an alleged racist comment from Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni. The game was stopped for around 10 minutes due to the UEFA protocol, and the fallout after the game has been sad to see.
First, Benfica head coach Jose Mourinho accused Vini Jr. of provoking the fans with his celebrations, rather than addressing the situation of his player. However, many have come out to support the Brazilian, with his boyhood club Flamengo being one of those.
Flamengo Support Vinicius Jr. After Alleged Racism
Teammates Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kylian Mbappe were two of many players who came out in support of Vinicius Jr. His former club also backed the Brazilian winger on social media with an emotional message that would have been nice to read for the Real Madrid man.
"What Vini Jr. lives isn’t just about football.Flamengo
There’s a lad there who dreamed, who fought, who overcame a hell of a lot to be where he is. And it hurts to see someone attacked simply for being who they are.
His dancing is proper joy. It’s spontaneous. It’s him.
Racism isn’t part of the game. It hurts. And it can’t be normalised.
Vini, you’re not alone. We feel it, we support you, we’re with you."
The message was posted alongside a picture of Vinicius holding up a Flamengo jersey. The team is still very close to his heart, and has been pictured before at games and wearing the team's merchandise.
The press conference with Alvaro Arbeloa was full of questions about the incident. The coach did everything to back and support Vinicius Jr., saying he will always believe in the Brazilian.
At the same time, the Benfica social media account posted a video to suggest that Viniocius Jr. and Kylian Mbappe could not have heard what Prestianni said due to the distance between them. A shocking decision to post something like that, and it was immediately questioned by the media, players, and fans.
It is now down to UEFA to conduct the investigation into the matter. The two teams meet next week in the second leg at the Bernabeu, and a decision before then seems unlikely. However, it may be wise for the Portuguese side to leave the player out of the squad.
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-031bbeb5612ca252e2129722373fa56d.png "Jordan Merritt")
Jordan Merritt is a staff writer for Real Madrid On SI. Before joining On SI, he wrote at Fansided, covering Ole Miss football, basketball, and baseball. He has also written for YardBarker, Heavy Sports, and the official EFL site. Merritt is a big sports fan, spending most of his weekends watching Soccer, the NFL, the NBA, college football/basketball, and others. Before starting his career as a freelance writer, Merritt was an Engineer for over 10 years. He lives in West Yorkshire, England, and is keenly interested in sports trading cards.
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