Vinicius Junior Sends Emphatic Message to Critics With Superstar Brazil Response

Vinícius Júnior’s early-season plight was so extreme that folk generally believed that the superstar we’d come to admire had been replaced by a body double.

Brazil and Real Madrid’s No. 7 underwent a major physical makeover after the Seleção’s worst World Cup performance since 1990, including facial harmonization, chin surgery and the implementation of facial hair.

The changes were drastic, with the babyface lost to a bygone era. We’re still struggling to come to terms with a more grizzled, mature-looking Viní Jr and the Brazilian has since performed as if he were settling into his fresh aesthetic.

His sublime apex in Madrid has rendered his slump all the more concerning. We’ve been treated to a completely different iteration of Vinícius Jr so far this season, with the nature of his sharp demise drifting into the realm of the existential. An unanswerable question—hence the body double conspiracy.

He’ll return from a four-match suspension after the international break, having seen Madrid blossom in his absence. Four wins from four, and Yan Diomande is starting to purr. Eek. Vinícius has proven so much with Los Blancos, yet it feels as if he has to do it all over again. Suddenly, though, momentum is back on his side.

Viní Jr Stuns With Brace In Brazil’s Defeat to Japan

Vinícius Júnior — Viní Jr scored two outstanding goals. | Koji Watanabe/Getty Images

The Brazilian star entered the November break without an open-play goal since August, and bereft of the sense that an upturn was imminent.

While he has sat out of Madrid’s previous four league outings after pulling the hair of Villarreal’s Nathan Saliba, staunch defender José Mourinho has backed the Brazilian on Champions League nights with little vindication.

There’d been hope that Carlo Ancelotti, who oversaw the Brazilian’s rise from an inefficient samba star into an elite-level forward, would prove the perfect tonic for the toiling 26-year-old. However, the extended September-October break merely returned a successful penalty against Australia. It wasn’t the season-altering break he needed, but Ancelotti said the winger “deserves his patience.”

Questions are continuing to linger around Ancelotti’s Brazil, not merely because of a bitterly disappointing World Cup. Brazil’s talent pool is arguably as uninspiring as it’s been in decades, thrusting even greater responsibility upon the most gifted.

Vinícius Jr’s record for the national team is subpar for a player of his standing, with the winger often flickering his magic in spurts rather than presenting anything sustained. But it’s moments that define careers, and Viní’s alluring electricity enraptures when it manifests.

Vinícius Júnior of Brazil in action. — Vinícius Júnior was on song on Saturday. | Ashok Kumar/Getty Images

As Brazil faced Japan in front of a few hundred fans in Singapore, the maligned winger turned it on. His first goals since September ultimately didn’t inspire victory, yet they represented a player who may well have just escaped his amnesia. Both finishes were struck with the conviction and attitude of a disgruntled superstar.

The first was a rocket fit for Cape Canaveral and far too forceful for Zion Suzuki to deny. 2–1. His second came via a more familiar sequence, with the winger standing up his marker one-on-one on the left. He jinked inside to create a yard, then unleashed an effort destined for Suzuki’s bottom left corner from the moment it left his boot.

It was the sort of finish he produced while emerging under Ancelotti in 2021–22, when he was developing a dangerous semblance of substance to complement the party tricks.

The brace ultimately mattered little, as Brazil was beaten thanks to Tatsuhiro Sakamoto’s stoppage-time winner, but the restoration of Vinícius Jr’s swagger will have significant ramifications in the long run.

Vinícius Júnior’s vs. Japan Stats Snapshot

Statistic	Tally
Minutes Played	90
Goals	2
Chances Created	2
Big Chances Created	1
Carries	32
Touches	60
Touches in Opposition Box	5
Dispossessed	1
Defensive Contributions	1

Stats provided by FotMob

When Will Vinícius Júnior Next Play for Real Madrid?

Vinícius Júnior will be available for selection when Real Madrid host Celta Vigo in La Liga on Saturday, Nov. 21. The Brazilian has served his four-match suspension, but he has his work cut out if he’s to displace Diomande in Mourinho’s team.

Los Blancos are on a roll, and Africa’s most expensive player ever has found his feet in Viní’s absence. The Ivorian has played off the left, with Arda Güler, who’s enjoyed an outstanding start to the season, operating as a playmaker from the right.

Güler is undroppable, so it’s a direct battle between Diomande and Vinícius Jr for minutes down the left. The former has all the potential to morph into something utterly brilliant, with the conviction of his finishes suggesting he isn’t merely a wide player who can dribble without offering too much else.

Plenty of Madrid supporters were thrilled that Mourinho pivoted to the Ivorian before Vinícius’s suspension, and even if the Brazilian builds on his brace against Japan when the Seleção faces Singapore on Tuesday, it’d be harsh on Diomande not to find himself in the starting lineup against Celta.

Vinícius Jr must win back his spot.

Add us as a preferred source on Google