Vinicius’s full name is Vinicius José Paixão de Oliveira Junior. He was born on July 12, 2000 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is a professional footballer who plays as a forward and is known as the “New Neymar” of Brazilian football.
Like many other Brazilian players, Vinicius’s path to becoming a footballer was extremely difficult and full of obstacles due to the daily struggles of living in a poor area with low living standards.
His childhood was difficult as his family was very poor, and his parents couldn’t even provide enough food for their children.
Vinicius’s first experiences with football took place in São Goncalo, a desolate area in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro after the missionary revolutions in Brazil. This area is also adjacent to the polluted waters of Guanabara Bay. Only poor locals live here.
At the age of 7, Vinicius was allowed by his family to start training in football, and he joined Flamengo’s futsal training class.
After 2 years of futsal training, Vinicius demonstrated his football skills when he participated in futsal training, and the coaches saw him as a treasure. Unfortunately, he was too young at the time, so they let him go home and come back the following year.
However, the 9-year-old boy’s heart always longed for the football pitch, and he remained determined to pursue a career in professional football rather than futsal.
In August 2010, Vinicius Junior passed Flamengo’s test and officially joined the team’s academy, beginning his journey to fulfilling his dream of becoming a professional footballer.
Vinicius Junior’s football career and his hope of becoming the “New Neymar” With the blood of Samba dancers in his veins and a strong passion for football, Vinicius Junior went through many years of training before becoming the most expensive teenage footballer in the world.
When he was still studying futsal at school, Vinicius Junior easily surpassed his peers to become the standout kid and it didn’t take long for him to claim the number 10 jersey of the futsal academy.
However, both he and his family realized that pursuing a career in football was the way to fully develop his potential. Vinicius Junior then tried out and was accepted into Flamengo’s youth team. His time in Flamengo’s youth team was extremely important to Vinicius, and regardless of what he may become in the future, those memories will remain in his heart. During this time, Vinicius’ poor family had to separate, with his father working multiple jobs to support his son. Vinicius and his mother had to stay with relatives to make it easier for Vinicius to train.
At first, everyone made an effort to provide the best conditions for Vinicius Junior to train, but gradually, things stabilized and along with that, Vinicius’ exceptional progress.
At the age of 13, Vinicius Junior was already playing for Flamengo’s U15 team and was highly regarded, before being called up to the U15 Brazil team.
Since entering the academy, Vinicius has always shown much greater ability than his peers, which has allowed the young talent born in 2000 to play with older age groups. Perhaps this is why Vinicius matured so quickly.
Coaches in Flamengo’s youth team quickly recognized his potential, but still tried to ensure that Vinicius developed to the best of his abilities and that no negative external factors would affect his career.
On May 13, 2017, Vinicius Junior made his debut for Flamengo’s first team when he came on in the 82nd minute of the match against Atletico Mineiro. Two days later, Flamengo advanced a new contract with Vinicius, including a release clause of up to 45 million euros. This was seen as part of a transfer negotiation plan for this young player to move to Real Madrid the following year.
Vinicius continued to play for Flamengo until he was 18 before crossing the ocean to Spain.
Vinicius Junior – The rising gem of Real Madrid
The transfer deal of Vinicius Junior to Santiago Bernabeu was agreed upon by all parties in 2017, but the Brazilian player was not yet old enough to make an international transfer, so the negotiations only became official when Vinicius turned 18.
With a transfer fee of up to 46 million euros, Vinicius is the second most expensive Brazilian player after Neymar.
On July 20, 2018, Real Madrid officially introduced their young talent, who wore the number 2 jersey and immediately became a member of the Spanish royal football team.
In fact, Real was not the only team that contacted Vinicius. Before them, Manchester United and Barcelona also showed interest, but these two giants did not accept the contract break fee of 46 million euros for such a young and inexperienced player.
Returning to Real, they were willing to meet the amount that Flamengo had set and considered Vinicius a type of talent that the football world had not seen in decades. The Spanish royal team made a very big bet on Vinicius.
In the Madrid derby against Atletico on September 29, 2018, Vinicius Junior came on as a substitute in the 87th minute and officially debuted for his home team in a formal match, especially in the Madrid derby.
After that debut, Vinicius Junior set a record as the first player born in 2000 to play for Real Madrid.
At that time, Real Madrid’s lineup no longer had Ronaldo, but it was still too crowded, and the La Liga environment was too harsh for an 18-year-old player like Vinicius. Therefore, he had to play for the reserves and youth teams to have more chances to play regularly.
Starting from the 2019-2020 season, Vinicius Junior played more for Real Madrid’s first team, but still played the role of a quality substitute. Then, thanks to his tireless efforts, the player born in 2000 quickly progressed and gradually gained a starting position, and furthermore, his position could not be replaced.”
Read more
