VINI VIDI, VICI
The timeline of a top-drawer performer invariably contains a Eureka moment, a juncture when a player announces himself as a head-turner with the brightest of futures. In explosive form for Real Madrid this campaign, young Brazilian left-winger Vinicius Junior, 21, experienced that turning-point feeling some five years ago while featuring for Rio giants Flamengo in the prestigious Copa Sao Paulo Under-20 tournament.
The “Copinha”, a major event in the soccer-obsessed nation that is Brazil, has become a rite of passage for would-be superstars in this part of the world. Such big names as Rai, Rivaldo, Djalminha, Neymar, Lucas Moura and GabrielJesus have used the competition as a springboard to high office, and so it was with Vinicius at the 2017 edition.
Vinicius’ numbers in that 2017 festival (four goals and five assists in seven appearances) tells its own spellbinding story. A threat anywhere along the front-line, Flamengo’s wiry number 18 was sensational throughout, wriggling past any number of markers, lightning-quick, full of outrageous feints, shimmies and dummies, great at playing on the shoulder of the last defender, masterful in his set-piece delivery and brimming with energy, imagination and sharpness.
Many of his goals at the were highlight-reel material. Take his brilliant right-footed curler from the edge of the box against Central: a marvellous dipping effort that
