Lamine shines in the ‘Vinicius moment’ | Soccer | Sports

DirectoVinicius greets the fans at the Santiago Bernabéu.Kiko Huesca (EFE)

Under the motto of “One skin, one identity”, Brazil and Spain united in the fight against racism. The protagonist was not the ball, it was football, represented by one of its best exponents: Vinicius Junior, a new symbol of the fight against racism. There was no better setting for the Real Madrid striker, dressed in the Brazil shirt and surrounded by his home, the Santiago Bernabéu, a shield against racist insults, also against the traps of his own personality, sometimes so angry in front of his opponents as a challenger to rivals’ hobbies. There probably wasn’t a more ideal time for the white 7 either. With Neymar injured, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) chose to give him the captain’s armband. And Chamartín celebrated it. A joy that did not take a breath to show. As soon as Vinicius’ name appeared on the video scoreboard, the fans forgot that he had arrived dressed in red to cheer on Spain and surrendered to the Brazilian attacker. It was not a casual or improvised decision by the Brazilian Confederation, which had already decided that Danilo would be the captain against England at Wembley, while Vinicius would be in charge of leading the five-time champions in Madrid.

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Unai Simón, Dani Carvajal, Cucurella, Le Normand (Pau Cubarsí, min. 81), Laporte, Nico Williams (O. Sancet, min. 89), Rodrigo, Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Fabián and Morata (Oyarzabal, min. 81 )

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Bento, Wendell, Danilo (Yan Couto, min. 45), Beraldo, Fabricio Bruno, Bruno Guimarães (André, min. 45), Gomes Da Silva (Andreas Pereira, min. 45), Lucas Paquetá, Rodrygo (Wanderson Galeno, min. . 82), Raphinha (Endrick, min. 45) and Vinicius Junior (Douglas Luiz, min. 71)

Goals 1-0 min. 12: Rodrigo. 2-0 min. 36: Dani Olmo. 2-1 min. 39: Rodrygo. 2-2 min. 49: Endrick. 3-2 min. 86: Rodrigo. 3-3 min. 96: Lucas Paqueta.

Referee António Nobre

Yellow cards Le Normand (min. 33), Bruno Guimarães (min. 42), Fabricio Bruno (min. 50), Dani Carvajal (min. 51), Lucas Paquetá (min. 58), Endrick (min. 78), Andreas Pereira (min. 85) and Beraldo (min. 92)

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Nobody doubted it, neither in Brazil nor in Spain: it was Vinicius day. The Netflix cameras, in charge of producing the documentary that has been following the steps of the Real forward for months, also knew it. A success for him, also for Brazil and, of course, for the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), which, with tickets sold between 40 and 110 euros, had 72,000 spectators in Chamartín.

Brazil, however, was not the Federation’s first option to close the double day of FIFA friendlies in March, the last stop of preparation for the Red before concentrating in June for the Euro Cup (they will play against Andorra and, in principle, against Northern Ireland before traveling to Germany). At first, the RFEF tested Argentina, they wanted Messi and his world champion team in Qatar. But the Argentine Football Association (AFA) wants to squeeze the most out of his star and asked for unaffordable money for the Spanish federation. Then, in June 2023, the name Brazil appeared. A few days before, May 21, 2023, had been marked in Spanish football: Vinicius had suffered racist insults at Mestalla. “Today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists,” the forward wrote on social networks, after Madrid’s visit to Valencia.

The RFEF, still with Luis Rubiales at the helm, decided to organize a friendly with the Canarinha to fight against racism. The CBF made things easier than the AFA. Sources from the federation assure that the cache of Vinicius’ team was two million. And, since Chamartín’s rent costs close to a million, always the same sources, the match with a Bernabéu delivered, the duel left profits for the RFEF.

The Bernabéu let Vinicius shine. However, La Roja did not do so. Until Unai Simón’s mistake, Spain’s defense had Brazil under control, essentially the Canarinha’s 7th, strangely not sharp in Chamartín. And the La Roja fans who had come to Madrid’s house to see him, found an erratic Morata (bleeped) and an inspired Lamine Yamal (applauded). “The stadium has performed fantastically. The vast majority supported Spain in a fantastic match. It hurts my soul that in my country, they whistle at one of our players, the captain, an example for everyone. Those whistles make me ashamed,” Luis De la Fuente stressed. Setback for Atlético’s 9, celebration, for the Madrid and Barça forwards. “It was a nice game for the fans. Happy because the team has shown that it can compete against anyone,” said Lamine. “Lamine has had a brilliant performance, but we have to be cautious. “It is the best advice we can give to these young and good kids,” added the coach.

The focus, in any case, was not only on peace: with the scoreboard relentless, the benches became heated. Paradoxical reaction in the peace party. “No match is friendly. We all play to win. It’s part of the game. The tie leaves us with a bittersweet taste,” said Cucurella. “A match against Brazil is never friendly. The teams want to win. In the end it didn’t happen,” added Dani Olmo. And De la Fuente added: “It makes me angry not to win a game in which we were superior. We have learned and drawn very positive conclusions. We came out stronger and with a feeling that we can go very far.”

Draws for Spain and Brazil, victory for Vinicius. Beyond some small scuffle with Laporte, the Bernabéu stood up to dismiss the Canarinha’s 7 in the 70th minute. After Cunningham, N’Kono, Kameni, Webó, Eto’o and Iñaki Williams, among others, Vinicius It is the new symbol of the fight against racism in football.

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2024-03-26 23:31:06
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