• Classic: The great night of Vinicius

The classic wine and roses did not change the Vinicius protocol. On Monday he spent the morning reviewing the game, talking with his people and asking for criticism. They say in their environment that they always do the same, convinced that they still have much to learn.

Not even his first night of glory, with goal and triumph against Barcelona , made him settle in satisfaction. In the dressing room, the elders asked for calm to the most courageous and at home, after the hug, the technical nuances. «It is a sponge», they define in the club, where their success is one of the most celebrated, for being the face flag of the new sports philosophy of the entity: the commitment to promising talents .

They still recognize today those who captured him in Brazil that this operation ( 45 million for a 16-year-old boy ) was very brave on the part of Madrid. Not even the most experienced scouts can guarantee that a teenage phenomenon, with unstoppable legs, will then curdle under the heaviest shirt in the world. The process, repeated later with Rodrygo Goes, had its deadlines, from the year of assignment in its own team ( Flamengo ) until the landing in Spain dressed first of Castile.

Afterwards, the curves of Madrid post Cristiano accelerated their integration last season. At present, it has been difficult to convince Zinedine Zidane , his first teacher in Valdebebas . If with his closest circle he comments the matches, the errors and successes (that unchecking at the wrong time or that peeled finish) with the coach, face to face, he accommodates the body as he says, puts the instep hard or raises his head when He asks. Practical classes to refine your wild foal nature.

Three day-to-day help

In Madrid they point to the "good environment" that surrounds them when analyzing their consolidation in the elite. Vinicius lives in La Moraleja accompanied by friends, his parents and other relatives. His intimates are Felipe, Menegate and Wesley, three colleagues from Brazil who help him on a day-to-day basis. They are your hard core. He agreed with one of them in the Flamengo quarry. Also nearby, here in Madrid, are with him Frederico Pena and Tatá Soares, two of his representatives (from the powerful TFM agency), and his uncle Ulysses. With them he set up meals at home, more of the pleasure of making home plans than of going outside. If anything, some sporadic dinner at Brazilian stoves level in the capital. For example, Rubaiyat .

For the homemade menu, he has asked Madrid to recommend a nutritionist . In his agenda, more than one afternoon, there are activities with the Club Foundation, visiting social projects. «Do not forget where it comes from», remember from the Santiago Bernabéu, with the image of the facade of your humble house in memory. In one of the most dangerous favelas of Rio de Janeiro. Still, when he travels to his country, he visits the area, giving time, balls and shirts to the kids in the neighborhood.

Humble origin

Until then, Juni Calafat was the right hand of the general director, José Ángel Sánchez, and responsible for the capture in Brazil. He is Vinicius's link with the club. His name springs behind the last signings of young values. The method is repeated: detection at source, personal supervision in the year of assignment they usually have and then, pampering in the Madrid landing, both the boy and his family. Comprehensive help: football and adaptation to the new city.

"The criticisms made him stronger," they believe in their surroundings, where they recognize that noise also reaches the player. The bad aim, its blackouts in the area, the problems of definition ... He spent his bad days, without entering the calls of Zidane, until little by little he was growing in the team. Of course, they say, never lost the smile that has become a brand image.

On Sunday, in the second part, when Barça's legs began to falter, his shone above the rest. That Kroos and Benzema, two of the most clairvoyant companions on the lawn, constantly sought him out was no accident. When marking, a photo was taken away from the 1-0 celebration. The lonely scream of Casemiro , Vinicius' elder brother in the dressing room. His mentoring also appears when drawing the protective mantle of the striker.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Zinedine Zidane
  • sports
  • football
  • First division
  • Champions League
  • Real Madrid

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