Over the past few days, a lot has been made about Vinicius Jr and his style of play and his way of celebrating goals.
The 22-year-old was at the receiving end of some harsh fouls and challenges last weekend against RCD Mallorca, who seemingly felt provoked by the speedster’s dribbling and dancing celebrations when he scored.
It has sparked up a massive debate in Spanish footballing circles, with players, pundits and fans all weighing in on the matter. While some consider it to be provocative behaviour, there are some who believe that Vinicius is well within his right to celebrate as he deems fit, as long as he is not being disrespectful.
On Thursday, Atletico Madrid captain Koke issued a warning to Vinicius that his celebration might not be well-received at the Civitas Metropolitano when the two teams face off later this weekend.
Soon after, another Atletico player, Alvaro Morata, also had his say on the matter, insisting that there was nothing wrong with the Real Madrid superstar celebrating the way he wishes to as long as he does not cross a line.
Now, Vinicius’ Br azil teammate and PSG superstar has come to the backing of the 22-year-old with posts on his social media accounts.
The former Barcelona forward, who himself has attracted criticism in the past for similar reasons, first sent out a tweet that translated to: “Dance Vini Jr”.
Soon after, Neymar put up a story on Instagram with Vinicius’ picture and a caption that reads: "Dribble, dance & be you! Happy just the way you are. Go for it my boy, next goal we dance".
Following in Neymar’s footsteps, a whole of host Br azilian players like Richarlison, Lucas Paqueta and even Barcelona star Raphinha have shown their support to Vinicius with posts on social media.
There are said to be growing concerns in the Real Madrid dressing room about opponents targeting Vinicius Jr and trying to get into his head. And it will be up to the Br azilian to ignore all the noise and keep doing what he has been doing over the past year.