Why is Brazil's Vinicius yet to win over those back in South America?
It is testament to the complicated, tortured relationship between Brazil and their football-obsessed public that the team’s shining light at this World Cup — on whom their hopes now so squarely rest — is not loved the way he might be back at home.
Things have always been complicated between Vinicius Jr and his nation. He was the prodigy who left Flamengo for Real Madrid at the age of 16, having played only 17 minutes of senior football, and conversations with Brazilians at this World Cup attest to how many have still not forgiven him.
‘They all want to play for Real Madrid or Barcelona,’ says one woman. ‘They get there and forget who they are, where they came from.’
Less widely appreciated is the baggage that can come with having been at Flamengo — the Brazilian club with most fans, most money, most media attention, and reviled by the rest because of it.
Many across Brazil seemed to be waiting for Vinicius to fail when he left. There was social media abuse, some of it racist, in response to his posts.
People called him Neguebinha, ‘little Negueba’ — a reference to the striker who showed huge promise in his early career at Flamengo but never managed to fulfil his potential. Media analysts declared that Vinicius would never appear for Real Madrid or that Rodrygo, who had just left Santos for Real, was better.
Vinicius Jr is Brazil's talisman at this summer's World Cup - but he hasn't got the undivided support of those back home in South America
For many Brazilians, Neymar Jr is still their country's star player, even if he is likely to be on the periphery of Carlo Ancelotti's squad
Brazil face Japan in the Round of 32 on Tuesday evening in Houston, and will likely be looking to Vinicius for inspiration
It goes without saying that he’s proved many wrong. Yet still that ambiguity remains, some of it still descending into hate. And as always in contemporary Brazil, the vast, all-consuming presence of Neymar is part of the equation.
Neymar is on the margins now, a 34-year-old whose contribution at this World Cup will be as an impact substitute at best. Yet he is still deified by many Brazilians who cannot accept he is not the player he once was. Being his natural successor — ‘the new Neymar’ — is another reason why some find Vinicius hard to like.
Yet for all that, the evidence points to him being the one who will be carrying Brazil, whose knockout phase starts with a tricky match with Japan here tonight.
Read More
America's bombastic pledge to bid for the 2038 World Cup makes the heart sink, writes IAN HERBERT
He is driven by a yearning for his nation’s missing affections — just like Lionel Messi, who was not so cherished in the barren years when he struggled to be what Diego Maradona had been for Argentina. Messi, too, was seen as a player who left for Spain too soon. ‘I hope I can make every Brazilian cheer for me one day,’ Vinicius said in one interview. It remains an aspiration.
In Carlo Ancelotti, he also has a coach who appreciates and knows his football intimately and who has built a Brazil team designed to help him shine, just as he did in Madrid.
The evidence of the group stage is that Ancelotti has created the optimal environment for Vinicius, freeing him from defensive duties so that he is in a position to capitalise on attacking opportunities.
When Brazil beat Italy on penalties in the 1994 World Cup final in Pasadena, with Ancelotti as the Italians’ assistant coach, they had been able to give their twin strike-force of Romario and Bebeto the same free rein that Vinicius is being granted now.
The significant difference is that those forwards, part of a squad who were runners-up four years later, were world class. The current Brazil squad lacks any No 9 fitting that description.
‘I’ll do 10 times more if I have to,’ Vinicius has said. If Brazil can come within touching distance of the trophy which once seemed theirs by default, then he will find the love he yearns for.
If not, he will probably get the blame.
Have you paid attention to the action so far? Try our World Cup quiz HERE.
"What I will never do is give up" – Kimmich rules out international retirement after Germany's World Cup exit
Story by
Germany captain Joshua Kimmich is not considering retiring from international football after Monday's heartbreaking World Cup exit to Paraguay.
"I'll always have the determination to make another attempt. What I will never do is give up," Kimmich told MagentaTV after the match.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe 31-year-old, who was also part of the squads that crashed out in the group stage at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, converted his penalty in the shootout. However, it wasn't enough to prevent another disappointing tournament exit.
"I grew up in Germany watching the national team on television, and it always seemed to be the semifinals or the final. Of course, you want to give today's children, the people, and this generation that same experience. The fact is, we weren't able to give the people back home that," Kimmich said.
According to Kimmich, everyone in the team must take full responsibility for the latest failure.
“It's a real shame, especially at a time when it would do us so much good to have something in Germany we can be proud of. Unfortunately, the national team isn't that right now, and we all share responsibility for it,” he said.
"We have to take responsibility – no one can distance themselves from it. We have to own it, because we, the players who were on the pitch, are the ones who messed it up."
Taylor Swift won over Kelce's skeptical friend in backstage encounter
Taylor Swift won over another new fan in Travis Kelce's friend Taylor Lewan, days before the American power couple are expected to get married at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Swift joined Kelce last week for his annual 'Tight End University' - an event he helps plan for practice and networking with players who play in the position where the Kansas City Chiefs star made his name.
Swift has sprinkled some stardust over the last two events with a brief performance at the concert they host each year and this time, ex-NFL man turned podcast host Lewan got to witness Swift preparing to perform backstage.
Speaking on his popular Bussin' With The Boys podcast, Lewan explained: 'I'll just tell you this, dude - I was kind of into her music when I was younger. I haven't been super into it since then. It is just not my genre.
'The girl is incredible. What a performer. We are sitting backstage for a moment and she's about to go out. She's got a cluster, she's got a gaggle of individuals with her. But she's in the back before she walks out and you can see her just getting in the zone.
'I remember just looking at her being like "it is so cool that somebody who is as successful as she is, as famous as she is, she just handles her business the correct way at all times".
Taylor Swift stunned fans with a surprise performance at Travis Kelce's Tight End University
Swift joined Travis Kelce (left) alongside Claire Kittle, George Kittle, Greg Olsen and Talbot Olsen (L-R) at the opening event of Tight End University on Monday
Bussin' With The Boys host Taylor Lewan was impressed by Swift's performance last week
'And for her to sit back, get in the zone and go out and put on a performance, whether it was three minutes or five minutes, it was a very short amount of time, but the pop from the crowd... everybody in that moment felt like she was singing individually to them. And I thought that was just awesome.'
Swift joined Lainey Wilson on the stage to perform her hit 'Love Story' and dedicated it to Kelce's friend and rival tight end George Kittle, who plays for San Francisco 49ers.
'She probably misses ball!' Lewan joked about the lengthy NFL offseason. 'She misses ball a little bit, dude! But she was awesome. It was just really cool to watch people who are outliers in their craft perform.
'And I thought she is clearly that, the biggest superstar in the world. It is just awesome to see all that going down, all while our boy Trav is just bobbing around, stoked to kind of like be there.'
Swift and Kelce are expected to tie the knot this weekend in New York at the city's most iconic venue.
There were people in the industry who wondered if their plans to marry at MSG were a high-profile decoy but Daily Mail earlier this week shared pictures of equipment getting loaded into the venue, seemingly in preparation for the big day.
It remains to be seen if Lewan is going. He has known Kelce for around 10 years but the guestlist has been kept quiet and those attending have been sworn to secrecy.
And if, as Lewan suggested, Swift is missing football then she doesn't have too much longer to wait.
Kelce's Chiefs team start the season with a Monday Night Football showdown against AFC West rivals Denver Broncos on September 14 at Arrowhead Stadium.
