Vinicius’ derbies and the Metropolitano’s ‘ground zero’: “If they attack him, he will respond”

«If they attack you, respond». Those who know best Vinicius Junior they have been repeating since 2018 the same phrase. There is no surrender in the Brazilian, convinced of winning the battle against the racist insults he has suffered in some stadiums in Spain. «It’s not going to stop», they insist, although several warn him that it is not worth responding to the attacks and although others blame him for the chants he receives. “It provokes,” they criticize him. Tonight he returns to Metropolitanground zero of that Dance, Vini, dance that two years ago started it all. 24 months later, the controversy has not ceased.

In September 2022Vinicius celebrated a goal against Mallorca at the Bernabéu with a dance, like so many other footballers. The gesture generated many comments ahead of the whites’ next match, the derby against Atlético at the Metropolitano. A commentator from The Chiringuito He told him to stop playing “the monkey” and Immediately He recommended that she not dance, that “there would be trouble.” His teammates on the Brazilian team supported him with the hashtag #BailaVinibaila, some red and white ultras sang “Vinicius, you are a monkey” before the duel and Madrid scored. And Vini looked at the stands and danced.

And since then, everything has escalated until tonight’s derby, where the Police expect a very hostile reception to Madrid and especially the Brazilian, and where LaLiga has intensified its controls over the racist chantsusing cameras and denouncing any insults against the footballers in court.

«A problem of Spanish football»

In the past, but still in Vinicius’ memory, is the doll hanging on the M-30 by members of the Atlético Front, the racist insults at Mestalla, the «Vinicius, you are a monkey» from around the Metropolitano in several derbies, the cries of «Vinicius, chimpanzee» prior to Atlético-Inter in the Champions League last season… Too many embarrassing situations that the Brazilian has been unable to ignore. It’s not his style. And perhaps that’s what bothers his critics the most. He doesn’t bow his head.

In the Madrid locker room, support is total on the issue of racism, without exceptions. “It is not a problem for Vinicius, it is a problem for Spanish football,” he repeated. Carlo Ancelotti. His best friends in Valdebebas, especially Tchouaméni and Camavinga, have been his first defenders during these months of controversy.

Of course, the most veterans have also recommended that, in cases where there are no racist insults and there is pressure from rivals or the stands, try to ignore it. The locker room, despite everything, is the first to know how difficult this is. It is understood in Ancelotti’s words. «What Vini has been through since I arrived is something that cannot be tolerated. Since the warm-up. It’s not normal, is it?who can stand it? Focus less on the figure of this young man and more on what happens in the stadium. “They do this because Vinicius is a sporting danger and they try to dislodge him,” admitted the Italian coach in San Sebastián.

“I’m not a saint”

Vinicius has tried several times to reflect on his mistakes and his character, such as in that surprising press conference in Riyadh, during the last Spanish Super Cup, in which he admitted that “I am not a saint.” “I try to stay focused, I know I talk too much, everyone wants to fight with me because they know it’s going to appear in the press, that I’ve done this or that… The coach and my teammates are teaching me what I have to do,” he declared. .

A couple of months after that and after the double of racist insults at the Metropolitano, the Brazilian broke down at another press conference, in this case in Valdebebas, before the friendly between Spain and Brazil organized, among other things, to show unity between the countries in the middle of the series of racist insults towards the striker. «They insult me ​​because I fight against this», he declared through tears.

In June he won his second Champions League, scoring a goal that makes him the top candidate for the Ballon d’Or. And all in a tournament that confirms his suspicions, those of his surroundings and those of Madrid: “It is a problem of Spanish football, not of “Vini.” In Europathe Brazilian has not had any problems nor has he suffered racist insults. Play, score, win and celebrate without wars or attacks.

Now another derby arrives just after the third criminal conviction handed down in recent months for racist insults towards the footballer.

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