Vinícius José Paixão de Oliveira Júnior (born 12 July 2000), commonly known as Vinicius Junior or Vini Jr. (Brazilian Portuguese: [viˈnisjus ˈʒũɲoʁ]), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a winger for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Brazil national team. Considered as one of the best players in the world, he is known for his dribbling skills, high pace and shooting.

Born in São Gonçalo, Vinícius began his professional career at Flamengo, where he made his senior debut in 2017, at age 16. A few weeks later, Vinícius was the subject of a transfer to La Liga club Real Madrid, for whom he signed for in a £38 million deal, which was a national record for an U-18 player. The transfer was made effective after his 18th birthday, with Vinícius debuting for the club in 2018–19. By his fourth season, Vinícius established himself as a prominent member in Real Madrid’s squad, helping the club win the 2021–22 La Liga title and scoring the winning goal in Real Madrid’s 2022 UEFA Champions League Final win.

• Vinicius Junior’s decision to train at the Flamengo Academy made his family relocate in 2010. While his father moved to Sao Paulo, his mother accompanied her son to Gavea, from where Vinicius would board a bus every single day to travel to the Academy.
• When he was 13, Claudio Cacapa, coach of the Brazilian U-15 team spotted him and drafted ‘the exceptional talent’ into the Brazilian side. Since then, Vinicius’ career graph has seen only peaks.
• While representing the Brazil U-15 team at the South American Football Championship, he scored 6 goals in as many matches, helping his side to an easy victory.
• The heroic performance at the U-15 level, however, went unnoticed. He then came into the limelight while showcasing his skills at the U-17 South American Championship, where he scored 7 goals and earned the ‘Best Player of the Tournament’ trophy. Because of this victory, the team even qualified for the 2017 U-17 World Cup.
• Although Vinicius has every move in his book, he is best-known for his ‘Chapeus’ technique. This shot involves the ball being flipped over the defender’s/goalkeeper’s head, making them feel ‘humiliated’.

• He was signed by the Real Madrid F.C. for a whopping €45 million in 2016. However, the ‘next Neymar’ cannot compete from the club’s side until he turns 18.
• The Manchester United F.C. were also reportedly interested in signing the young-generation star. They, however, failed to negotiate with the Flamengo Club.

Vinicius Junior’s parents are Vinicius José Paixão de Oliveira (father) and Tatiana Vinicius (mother).

Vinicius Junior’s parents came from a humble family with two brothers and a sister whose name is Alessandra Oliveira.

Vinícius Júnior was born to his dad, Vinicius José Paixão de Oliveira and his mum, Tatiana Vinicius in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Coming from a humble family with two brothers and a sister, it was not always easy for Vinicius Junior’s parents to put food on the table. However, with support from his hardworking uncle Ulysses, things went well.

As a child, Vini was known to be very calm, someone who would play video games and would be on his mobile phone all day.

Back then, he played with many teams on FIFA, especially FC Barcelona, where he enjoyed using Lionel Messi.

Asides from being a video game freak, young Vini also played football early on. According to Vinicius;

I WAS ALWAYS PLAYING WITH MY FRIENDS ON THE STREET AND THE REASONS I WOULD ONLY GO HOME IS TO  PLAY FIFA, EAT OR SLEEP.

Just like any other Brazilian kid, Vinicius Junior started his education in the year 2006 (age 6). He began as a student at one of Flamengo’s 125 schools in Brazil.

After registration, his parents waited until he was seven before they allowed him to begin his success story.

That year, Vini got registered with Futsal at Canto do Rio, a famous club in Niteroi, south of Sao Goncalo.

Vini’s futsal training ground was a short ferry ride away from Rio de Janeiro. At first, things went well as his parents could afford to transport their son.

However, it took no time before finances started depleting for Vinicius Junior’s family. Hence it was hard to transport their son, and options had to be sorted out.

Vinicius had to stay with his uncle, Ulysses, in Piedade, a municipality in São Paulo which is much closer to his training ground. There he felt comfortable and took his futsal playing ground as his second home.

While in his futsal academy, Vinicius Junior rose above his team’s ranks and became the best player in his age group.

It took no time before he got awarded the No 10 shirt thanks to him being accepted as the playmaker of his team.

Asides from dribbling, Vinicius also learned how to exploit tight spaces. This improved his agility, reflexes and finally unlock his footballing potential at a young age.

In 2009 when Vinícius was nine years old, his parents took him for have a trial at Flamengo academy. This was a time Vinicius Junior’s Parents had hoped to convert their son from a Futsal to an academy football player.

The club saw potential in him but told him to return when he was a year older. In order not to stay idle, Vinicius attempted to go back to Futsal on a permanent basis.

This would have ruined the hope of becoming a successful footballer. Thanks to his parents, this move was averted as he later chose not to return for futsal and decided to wait.

In the month of August 2010, Vinicius took the trial test for Flamengo’s youth football team and passed it.

As a reward for passing the trial, his dad bought his first football ticket to see Flamingo senior tea play at the prestigious Estádio Luso Brasileiro.

While at Flamengo, Vinicius became a young star who would only see his life-changing every day. He joined his Flamengo teammates in his club’s training facility which was around 70km from his residence.

The early days at Flamengo saw Vinicius Junior family forced to make more monies for their son’s upkeep, knowing it was an important stage in his life.

While his dad went on to seek a better job in Sao Paulo, his mum had to relocate to join her son, who was still living with his uncle. At last, his dad secured his job, and providing financial support became a norm.

While at the upscale area of Gavea, Vinicius Junior’s mum would take a bus alongside her son, accompanying him for practice.

While her son would train with his teammates, Tatiana would wait patiently for him in the same park in order to witness his return.

As time went on, things became fairly easier for the Vinicius family. A van was purchased, which allowed Vinicius to be driven straight to Ninho do Urubu, his academy ground.

Upon registering for Flamengo, Vinicius indicated on his application that he was a left-back. This was a false declaration. However, it took no time before it became obvious that he was an attacker and not a left-back, as recently claimed.

This was evident as he single-handedly led his team’s frontline to his first title medal as a youth.

Since the victory medals, everyone in the club including his youth manager became aware of a jewel in their possession. Vinicius did not only get the player of the tournament award, but also the golden boot.

The professional debut was finally made for the Flamengo side after a decade, since his father took him to Flamengo’s school in Sao Goncalo.

This happened in the year 2017, the most memorable year in his life. Seeing him making his debut, Tim Vickery of ESPN FC once made a joke of it saying;

“VINICIUS ON HIS DEBUT STILL LOOKED A LITTLE BIT LIKE A BALL BOY WHO HAD RUN ONTO THE FIELD WHEN NO ONE WAS LOOKING.”

Tim Vickery of ESPN FC

Such a harsh comparison immediately ended after Vinicius Junior proved himself to be the most popular person in the field.

Tim Vickery was shocked to start seeing the young Brazilian banging goals and celebrating with a unique style for his Flamengo side.

Just two days after Vinicius’ professional debut, Flamengo announced the renewal of his contract. This saw his release clause rising from €30 to €45 million.

The decision was made because Flamengo board members anticipated harassment by European clubs.

Did you know?… Manchester United was reportedly one of the first clubs that tried to acquire his availability and possibly lure him into the theatre of dreams.

Unfortunately, Man United chairman, Ed Woodward didn’t have much success negotiating with Flamengo, and transfer talks didn’t get far.

That same year, in March 2017, the South American U-17 Championship came and Vinicius was invited to represent Brazil.

In the tournament, Vinicius introduced himself to South America by scoring seven goals as Brazil won the tournament for a record 12th time.

Vinícius Júnior, after winning the trophy, wasn’t just named the tournament’s best player. He also danced his way into becoming their top goal-scorer with seven goals.

Just after the tournament, top European clubs started complaining about the high price tag for Vinicius. They claimed he was just a teenager who had barely kicked a ball at the professional level.

Football scouts also claimed that his under-17 football provided little or no measure of his future.

These arguments were made to find reasons to justify the high price tag placed on him and possibly see it reduced. As regards his skills, it’s hard for them to justify his €45 million costs.

Despite the transfer battles, European clubs like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid became willing to roll their dice. They were both willing to pay €45 million for Vinicius’ services under some conditions.

Both teams were willing to pay two-thirds of the money at first and the other instalment to be paid once he proved himself to be a top flier in Spain.

It didn’t take long for Real’s bitter rivals Barcelona to emerge on the scene as the first choice for Vinicius Junior. This was owing to the fact that Vinicius had loved FC Barcelona both on reality and FIFA.

It was also rumored in Brazil that Neymar himself had contacted Vinícius to extol the virtues of the Camp Nou.

However, FC Barcelona proved unwilling to match his astronomic release clause. The transfer was progressing well, with most of the loose ends tied up thanks to the inflated price tag and his age creating problems.

As at the time FC Barcelona was still deciding on the 16-year-old sensation, Real Madrid stepped in with full force. They went ahead to pay €46 million and finally won the race.

Instead of travelling more than 8,000 kilometres to Spain, Vinicius was allowed to stay back in Brazil to develop at Flamengo until July 2018.

Immediately after signing for Real Madrid, rumours began flying that Vinicius Junior’s Family was behind the move and not him.

Also owing to the fact that he never wanted Real Madrid. After an interview, his uncle Ulysses claimed Vinicius was the one who spoke to him at the time of making his decision. In his words;

I CALLED HIM AND SAID, ‘YOU HAVE TO DECIDE.’ AND HIS ANSWER WAS: “HALA MADRID!” I SWEAR TO GOD, FOR MY HAPPINESS. BESIDES, CASEMIRO AND MARCELO ALSO WANTED VINICIUS TO COME TO REAL MADRID CLAIMING THAT THEY WOULD HELP HIM.

Did you know?… Vinicius Junior’s transfer to Madrid became historical, and he got celebrated as the most expensive player under 18 years ever sold in football. The rest, as they say, is now history.

Vinicius has an intuitive and sentimental personality. He is very emotional, sensitive, and cares deeply about matters about his family and home.

This is why he makes his personal life and relationship life very private. However, Vinicius once revealed some information about his personal life during an interview with a beautiful Spanish journalist.

The interview, which happened while he was 18, revealed some interesting facts about Vinicius Junior.

First, he doesn’t own a home and his parents still collect and manage his finances. Secondly, he suffered racism even in his home country, Brazil.

Finally, his best childhood memories revolve around playing FIFA. This third Vinicius Junior fact came after he allowed the journalist to have a back camera shot of him playing FIFA.

Junior does not drink alcohol, but only Coca-Cola. The first impression one would have about him suggests a rugged look, as seen in the photo below – with his best friend, Lucas Paqueta.

Talking about his personal facts, Vinicius once said;

“MY FATHER AND MY FAMILY PROTECT ME FROM EVERYTHING BAD, SO I’M LEFT WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE ALWAYS SUPPORT ME AND HAVE ALWAYS BEEN WITH ME FROM THE START.”

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