Vini Jr.: 10 Curiosities About the Football Phenomenon.

Find out a little more about the incredible Brazilian football player.

Vinicius José Paixão de Oliveira Júnior, better known as Vini Jr, was born on July 12, 2000, in the city of São Gonçalo, in Rio de Janeiro. The athlete began his career at just 10 years old, joining Flamengo.

That’s how, thanks to his brilliant performance in the club, several European clubs set their sights on the player. It was then that, in 2017, Vini Jr was signed by Real Madrid for a fee of 45 million.

This made him one of the best paid youngsters in football history. He also had his main debut in the Brazilian national team in September 2019 during a friendly against Peru.

If you are curious to know more about the player’s life and discover fascinating facts, keep following and discover all the details.

1. How it all began

In an interview, Carlos Eduardo Abrantes, director of Escolinha do Flamengo, recalled the difficulties that the player’s family faced at the time.

Due to the limited financial situation, the school had to provide Vini with a backpack and soccer shoes. Abrantes also emphasized the crucial role of the athlete’s family, which offered essential support during the first steps of his career.

2. Start in Futsal

For three years (2007-2010), Vini took futsal classes at the Flamengo School in the city of São Gonçalo, in the center of Niterói. Soon, at the age of nine, he performed some futsal trials at the club.

His potential was huge and drew a lot of attention, however due to his young age, he was asked to return the following year. What Vini really wanted was to be a soccer player, which is why he didn’t return the following year.

At the age of 13, he was called up to the Under-15 team by coach Cláudio Caçapa, standing out as a starter and main player for Flamengo’s children.

In 2015, His achievement was becoming champion of the Copa Votorantim.

3. He was registered as a left back

As soon as he joined Flamengo’s school, it was stated in the documents that the player was a left winger. However, this was a mistake made by the club, since from the beginning Vini demonstrated his abilities playing as a striker.

In 2016, the highlight was the milestone of 10 goals, with this he became an assistant in the competition and helped Flamengo achieve the merit of champion of the Carioca Under-17 Championship.

4 . Only South American on the list of best players under 21

Vinicius was certainly born to shine! In 2017, the British newspaper The Telegraph released a list of the best under-21 footballers in the world. In the same, Vini occupied the 39th place.

At the time, the player was the only player from South America to be part of this important list, which had big names in the sport like Dani Ceballos, Marco Asensio, Marcus Rashfor, Kylian Mbappé, among others.

5 . U-17 South American Championship Top Scorer

In 2017, the player helped Brazil win the U-17 South American Championship, scoring 7 goals. On the occasion he was awarded Best Player of the Tournament.

6. Youngest foreigner to score in El Clásico

September 2018, the star made his debut for the Real Madrid main team in an official game.

In the 26th round of the Spanish Championship, in 2019-2020, Vinícius Jr. was marked for becoming the youngest player of the 21st century to score in El Clássico in La Liga.

In this way, he broke the record and became theyoungest international player to score a goal, aged just 19 years and 230 days.

7. Record transfer for such a young player

A few days after his debut at Flamengo, his contract was extended until 2022. This contract had a 30 million release clause, which quickly rose to 45 million euros.

2022 the player was nominated for the men’s Ballon d’Or for his excellent 2021–22 season, according to France Football magazine.

8. NBA fan

It’s quite frequent to see Vini wearing NBA jerseys. In 2022 he posted a photo on his Instagram watching the game between the Detroit Pistons and the Miami Heat.

9 . Second Brazilian with the most goals in the Club’s history.

In the 2023-2024 season, the milestone was a goal scored by the star, which made him reach 70 goals for Real Madrid.
This mark made him the 2nd Brazilian with the most goals in the club’s history.

10. It has an institute in its name

Instituto Vini Jr, a non-profit organization that bears his name, hired a team to develop a learning application called BASE.

It was developed so that children between 6-10 years old can improve their basic skills using football terms.

The player declared in a video: “The institute helps me to get closer to the people who helped me when I was 15, 16 years old, and to reciprocate the affection that they all have for me “.

Conclusion

It is noted that Vinicius Jr.’s career can be considered an example of determination and talent. Even with mistakes, successes, challenges and difficulties, the player became a reference in the sport.

His prominence is also due to his work off the field, which aims to honor his commitment to the community and inspire the next generation of athletes.