DBehind every footballer there is a story, and MARK rebuilds from Rio de Janeiro the Vinicius Junior, one of Real Madrid’s most decisive and beloved players. Specifically, from Sao Gonaloa neighborhood with many deficiencies and lack of security, 30 kilometers from the state capital.
there receives us Charles Edward Abrantes, considered the discoverer of Vinicius at La Escolinha, a local club with an agreement with Flamengo. “He came to train at the age of six and was already showing himself above the rest, although the others were older. It was different“, remember cocoawho comes to the meeting with an extensive personal archive that accounts for his close relationship with today’s international for Brazil.
Before joining Mengao, at the age of ten, Vinicius grew up surrounded by his knowledge and advice: “Outside the field he was a shy boy, but inside he changed completely. He was very focused, he finished training and was already going to the next category. He spent almost all day here“. It was not easy for the carioca and his family: “The father had to go to work in Sao Paulo, another state, to help financially. It is a humble family but very fighter. Many difficulties passed. Vinicius had to do 75 kilometers there and 75 back to Ninho do Urubu [centro de entrenamiento de Flamengo]Until, at the age of 13 or 14, he went to live with his uncle Ulysses to be closer. At first her mother would go, she would leave her, she would stay until she left, about four hours waiting to return to Sao Gonalo.”
Already in Flamengo, the greats of Europe soon launched themselves for him, with the well-known outcome. “The father only told me that he was closed with Real Madrid. Later I learned a little that Barcelona was also interested, even before Madrid, and then Real arrived and what happened happened“, details Cacau. “The Ballon d’Or? It is a consequence of work. You have to keep working hard, concentrated and so if it happens it will be naturally. If it happens, be in a natural way, not talking about it“he analyzes on his roof.
“Vinicius invests more than 335,000 euros a year in the Vini Jr Institute”
A few meters from that field with so much meaning for Vinicius we ran into the Paulo Freire Municipal School, a kind of physical headquarters of the Vini Jr Institute, the player’s most special and supportive project. In it, V attends usIctor Rodriguesexecutive director: “This adventure is born from the desire of Vinicius and his family to help in the quality of education in Brazil, especially the public one. With the pandemic it got worse and the children did not have classes for almost two years, so we needed to speed up the learning process, to go back to school, and to do it in an innovative way.
The key is to use football as a vehicle towards a better reality. “It is not just a sport, but a universal language that has the ability to attract and teach a lot. It is common to see the boys arrive commenting on the day of the local or Spanish league, talking about the points of their team, the number of goals… And so they do calculations with the classification, the balance of goals…Rodrigues explains.
It also delves into the madridista’s involvement, highlighting the financial factor for obvious reasons. “The annual investment is about 2 million reais [ms de 335.000 euros]”reveals just before looking back, until a day of complete happiness: “Vinicius came when people started working on the pilot, nobody knew about it and it was a great surprise to treat him in these places where he spent his childhood. It is A positive reference for the children, he is the outstanding idol, it is very difficult to compete with him.
“The children waited for him and cried, they wanted to hug the idol”
In the same building, prior to an impromptu mini-match with some of the children who have come despite being on vacation, we chatted with Ana Paula, the school’s director. “Vinicius was always a happy boy, attached to sports. He was convinced of what he was doing, he already dreamed of being a great player, but without forgetting his studies. If he was a good student? Yes, he was a worker“, tells us.
To finish, he reviews the symbolism that has reached the ’20’, prophet in his land: “He always comes to Sao Gonalo. The launch of the project was super exciting, the children were waiting for him and cried, they wanted to hug the idol, because it is“. Just like in Madrid then.
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