Vinicius assumes the role of Neymar and classifies Brazil to the round of 16

No this neymar. His absence costs dearly in Brazil. But don’t worry… the ‘Canarinha’ has a whole firmament of stars with which she can continue to fight in Qatar 2022still guided by a special man: Vinicius Jr.. And he showed it in Brazil’s 1-0 win over Switzerland.

Clearly ‘Vini’ is not ‘Ney’ nor does he have his quality and influence in Brazil. But in his absence, the Real Madrid winger is the one who now has to lead the ‘Scratch’ attack. And he’s not doing anything wrong.

From a very young age, Vinicius was called to take great responsibility with his team. The discovery of him was fleeting. His great talent captivated locals and strangers before he turned 18. But to fully take off he had to have a veteran as a reference and not get lost along the way as happened with many other Brazilian ‘jewels’.

That great guide for ‘Vini’ was nothing more and nothing less than Paolo Guerrero. He coincided with the Peruvian striker in 2017 and part of 2018 at Flamengo. In that club they played together and shared many special moments, forging a great friendship regardless of the 16-year difference between them.

This is how Vinicius took all the advice that Guerrero gave him in Flamengo to even be able to go further than him. “Paolo is a great friend who has taught me a lot”he expressed a few years ago.

Today, the 22-year-old winger can already boast of being one of the great figures of Real Madrid, being the third most valuable player in the world and having a great individual record. He himself achieved it at full throttle. And he deserves it.

Now he is also one of the brightest stars in Brazil. Although many times he was marginalized from the calls, today he is essential in Tite’s scheme and he is leaving everything to win something with the ‘Canarinha’.

Already in his World Cup debut in Qatar 2022 he showed everything he is capable of doing. In fact, he participated in the two goals of the victory against Serbia: he finished first on the rebound that Richarlison took advantage of and set up the striker perfectly for his brace.

Now, in the absence of Neymar, ‘Vini’ has taken on great responsibility in attack and, without a doubt, has excelled. He almost always transcended in the attacks, he gave a wonderful pass with the outside that Richarlison did not take advantage of, He scored but the VAR annulled it and Casemiro’s goal play began at his feet.

According to the specialized portal SofaScore, he also finished off once on goal (almost a goal), gave two key passes, created a great goal chance, had 89% effectiveness in his passes and won seven individual duels.

Vinicius has been, then, very important. He did his thing for most of the game. And now Brazil, without Neymar, dances to the rhythm of the Real Madrid winger to secure their place in the round of 16 of Qatar 2022. Deserved. Goal accomplished.