Dorival Júnior, coach of the Brazilian team, spoke about the importance of Vini Jr. for the Brazilian people and commented on the controversy over the Ballon d’Or, won by Spaniard Rodri.
“Very great injustice for everything this athlete [Vini Jr] did throughout this last period”, commented the coach. “No one was more decisive. If it’s an individual award, something I don’t agree with in a team sport like football. For me, we should reward teams, never individually, but there is such an award. An important award, an award with impressive visibility, but there was an injustice. I have no doubt about that.”
Ballon d’Or
The Golden Ball, an award given by the magazine France Football to the best player in the world, is one of the highest individual honors awarded in football. In 2024, Vini Jr lost the award to Rodri, from Manchester City. The Brazilian spoke after the defeat. “I will do 10x if I have to. They are not prepared”, said the Brazilian in a post on social media.
Despite Vini’s favoritism, . Part of the public and the media pointed out that the choice suffered due to the athlete’s fight against racism in football, which generated many enmities in the striker’s career. Dorival does not believe that this was a preponderant factor.
“Look, I don’t believe this happened, and I’m sorry if any of these journalists voted that way, voted with that thought. I’m sorry because I don’t believe that this was the reason for this decision to be taken”, commented Dorival.
Importance for the Brazilian people
Despite this, Dorival highlighted the respect that the Brazilian people have for the player and praised the Brazilian athlete.
“He’s a boy who has a bright path ahead of him. He had the most important victory in his life, which was the recognition of the Brazilian people and the respect of the Brazilian people, for having had the season he had and the lack of recognition in general. But here, the vast majority of Brazilian fans know that Vini Júnior was the best player last season”, he concluded.
CNN Esportes S/A
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