Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior on Saturday called out the haters of his goal celebrations as racist and said he would keep on dancing.
Spanish sports talk shows have been discussing the appropriateness of his celebrations, and a commentator on television said he should stop “doing the monkey.”
Real Madrid criticized the comment on Friday, and Vinicius issued a video statement in Portuguese on Saturday in which the Brazilian said that dancing forms part of his cultural expression, and cited other soccer players, black and white, who also have danced after scoring.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“I will repeat it for you, racist: I am not going to stop dancing,” Vinicius said.
“I was victim of xenophobia and racism in a single declaration, but none of this began yesterday,” Vinicius said over freeze frames of social media posts using racist language to insult him.
The controversy also comes in the build-up to yesterday’s hotly contested Spanish capital derby in which Real Madrid visits Atletico Madrid.
Last week, Atletico captain Koke Resurreccion, when asked what would happen if Vinicius danced after scoring, said that “there will be trouble.”
Koke appeared to make the comment in jest, but it has been widely commented on. Brazil star Neymar chimed in on social media writing on Twitter: “Dance Vini Jr.”
In his video, Vinicius listed players, including Atletico’s Antoine Griezmann, who is white, over images of them dancing to celebrate goals.
“For weeks my dancing has been criminalized, dances that are not mine, but rather of Ronaldinho, Neymar, [Lucas] Paqueta, [Paul] Pogba, Matheus Cunha, [Antoine] Griezmann and Joao Felix,” he said. “They are dances of Brazilian artists, of Latino singers and reggaeton artists, and black Americans. They are dances to celebrate the cultural diversity of the world. Accept them. Respect them. I won’t stop.”
The 22-year-old Vinicius emerged as one of the Spanish league’s best players last year, becoming a perfect attack partner for Karim Benzema. He helped Madrid win the Spanish league and the European Cup, including scoring the goal to beat Liverpool 1-0 in the Champions League final.
He has scored five times already this season.
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said he was sure his player was focused on playing, despite the noise.
“The player’s response was very good. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with him,” Ancelotti said. “He’s playing with the joy and quality that he possesses. I don’t give him any advice because I’m not his dad or his brother. I’m his coach.”
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS