“Justice was done with Vinicius.” Thus begins an opinion article by the Spanish newspaper AS about the Brazilian having won the FIFA award for best player in the world, The Best, last Tuesday (17).
It’s true that AS is a publication that tends towards Real Madrid, but the text addresses interesting points, including that The Best “is a democratic award.” If we compare it with France Football’s Ballon d’Or in October, in which Vini came second behind the Spaniard Rodri, it really is.
If one hundred journalists from around the world vote in the French magazine’s awards, one from each country in the top 100 of the FIFA rankings, in The Best the choice is made by captains and coaches of national teams, journalists and thousands of fans, each part with weight. equal to 25%. In his last column, colleague from Sheet Luís Curro explained that Vini was much more popular than Rodri among the fans; European captains, coaches and journalists preferred the Spanish. Yes, there is Eurocentrism in these choices.
Here in the UK, coverage in the British sports press of the two best in the world awards was shallow. It didn’t help, it’s true, that The Best was on the same night as a popular event on the BBC television network that awards sports personalities of the year, and on the same day that the news of a Chelsea player’s doping came out. And as the ceremony that normally takes place in Europe was in Doha, Qatar, and the date was announced at the last minute, fewer journalists were physically present.
But it was frustrating to see that, in both cases, a country like England, which loves football and is proud of its national team taking a stand on important causes, ignored relevant discussions.
At the time of the Ballon d’Or, for example, the focus was on criticizing Real Madrid’s boycott of the award, instead of debating why the fact that Vinicius spoke out about the crime of racism he suffers still bothers him so much and influenced the votes of journalists. against him.
It was a source of pride to see that The Best’s night was very Brazilian. Marta was crowned with the new award that bears her name, for the most beautiful women’s goal, scored in a friendly match between the Brazilian team and Jamaica; Gabi Portilho, Corinthians striker, made the team of the season; the Fair Play Trophy went to midfielder Thiago Maia, from Internacional, who helped rescue flood victims in Rio Grande do Sul; the boy Gui, who has a rare disease and became a symbolic Vasco fan, was also honored.
And, in the main award of the night, Vini Jr’s merit was indisputable. The Brazilian was instrumental in Real Madrid’s Champions League title, helped the team win the 36th Spanish championship trophy, scored 26 goals for club and country.
In his speech, he recalled his poor childhood and said that what he is doing “is for many children who think that everything is impossible and that they cannot get here.”
I agree with my colleague from AS: justice was done to Vinicius. Regardless of his very important fight against racism, he was elected because he was the best in the 2023/2024 season. Lucky for football and the world that, on top of that, Brazilians are involved in such an important cause.
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