EI Bernabeu it was a party on his return, 560 days later. The fans vibrated with Vinicius, author of a great goal and a formidable performance. The Brazilian is in the best moment, personal and football, of his professional career, and he analyzes it in an interview for ACE.
-The one that you have involved with your exhibition against Celta in the return to the Bernabéu. The previous game played in the stadium with the public was on March 1, 2020 against Barça, and you also scored a goal. The homecoming was like a movie …
It was all very special. We knew that our people would be with us and support us at all times. In fact, with 1-2 at halftime we were clear that the support of the fans was key if we wanted to come back. That encouragement they gave us was fundamental. That support is felt and makes everything easier for you.
-In this year and a half of the pandemic they had to play behind closed doors at the Di Stéfano de Valdebebas with empty stands. That silence of Valdebebas had to be terrible to play. To what extent is the support of the stands decisive for a player to be able to offer his maximums?
In Valdebebas it was very difficult for us. Especially for me, who likes to play with the fans, used to the passion with which soccer is lived in Brazil. Noticing people's breath when you're down there is unique. That is why we believe that with the return of the public it will be easier to fight to win the greatest number of titles.
-In 2018 the Bernabéu acclaimed you. On the return in 2021, the same. Here legends like Zidane or even Cristiano have been whistled. What do you blame for your unquestionable love affair with the Bernabéu?
I'm very happy about that, that they feel like that with me. I think it's because of my style of play. I always face and, if I fail, I try again. Hopefully this relationship with the fans will last for many years.
“With the return of the fans to the Bernabéu we will be able to fight for everything”
-At just 18 years old and with Solari on the bench, he put the Bernabéu on its feet several times with that vertical and electric football that you are used to deploying. Now the game is more speculative and horizontal, of possession. Is yours inherited from the Brazilian culture of neighborhood and beach soccer?
Here I try to play as if I were at home, when I played in Brazil. I feel like when I played in the street, with joy. Feeling the support of the public is like staying there. We play to enjoy together with them.
-Speaking of the heat of the public, you know that your explosive celebration of the goal against Celta jumping into the stands has received criticism for the pandemic that we are suffering.
It has been a time of many emotions and I am sure that everything that has happened in this time with what happened influenced me. We hadn't been able to be with our people for a long time and maybe it went away a bit (smiles). I got carried away a bit because it came together that it was the 3-2 goal, we had returned home after so long and I scored again. It was actually a hug to the Bernabéu in our reunion with them. I didn't know any of them. It was a hug for all the Madridistas who have always been by our side.
-Tell me the secret so that now you can see the door so easily and before it was done at night on many occasions when you shot on goal.
This is the product of a lot of work, many hours training in Valdebebas and fighting to improve the definition. Since I arrived at Madrid I always said that the time would come when I would score many goals in a row. Since the season started I feel very good. I have the confidence that the coach and all the technical staff give me. That confidence makes me think that I can fail, and if I do, I will try again …
-What did Ancelotti say to you this summer to give you that security that you didn't seem to have before? After the game in Vitoria the coach explained that it was better that he did not drive so much and that he looked for the direct goal.
He says that: that in the end with one or two touches is better before finishing. Which is better for me and there is the data. I have that thought in my head and we are creating more chances and scoring more goals. The coach worked a lot with me in Valdebebas and helps me improve.
JAVIER GANDUL (DIARIO AS)
-There is a fact that you will like. He has only ten shots on goal in these four games and that has given him to score no less than four goals. Almost as much every two shots …
Confidence is the key for a forward. These years ago his problems with the goal led him to have many conversations so as not to lose self-confidence.
-Did you speak with sports psychologists or professionals coaching to improve in that aspect?
No, I did not get to have that concern or obsession despite the statistics. In the Flamengo quarry I scored a lot of goals and I knew this was going to come. I'm very calm about that and now I only think about scoring goals and giving assists to help Madrid win titles. I feel good about myself.
-How is your life here?
I live with my whole family and with my little brothers. I love this city and how are its people. I feel at home. In addition, my physio also lives with me and in the afternoons I work at home to improve my diet and my physique. I take great care of myself.
-Until this summer many people recommended that you be loaned to a good First team to start every Sunday and thus return triumphant. But you were always clear about it and refused that possibility.
I just wanted to succeed in Madrid, for my president and for the fans that have always supported me without conditions. My family and I want to spend many years in Madrid and I don't want to have another experience. There are players here who have been around for many seasons and have won a lot. I want to be like them.
-In the club there is a compatriot who is a legend like Roberto Carlos. And in the dressing room I know that Casemiro advises him a lot, and there are young people like Militao and Rodrygo who support him. Does it help to be with so many compatriots in this integration?
Yes, that mix of young and old always helps me. Now Camavinga arrives, very young and good, and there are Fede (for Valverde), Rodrygo, Miguel (for Gutiérrez)… They all ensure the future of Madrid.
– But you are already a 'veteran' of 21 years. He is in his fourth season at Madrid and has played 122 games for white. In reality it is already a mirror for the young people who are arriving …
I arrived when I was 18 years old and as a child, but my head was calm and convinced that I would end up playing for many years like Marcelo, Sergio Ramos, Karim… I wanted to succeed like them. We have a very bright present and future for us. Young people must learn with veterans and that is what works.
-The proof that Ancelotti trusts you is that he started against Celta because of his natural profile, the left, while Hazard went to the right …
The coach is trying to get the best out of all of us, giving us confidence where he knows we can give more. With Eden and Karim we combined a lot against Celta and that was key to the good victory we achieved against the Galicians.
-You define against Celta with an astonishing serenity. As if it were a ‘pass to the net’ and with his head raised. The same thing happened against Levante. It is not luck. You really put it there.
With the confidence I have in myself, everything is easier. We had trained that play and at halftime I told Karim: “The first one that comes to you, put it on me, and I'm going to get there.” I was calm, I faced the doorman, I waited and I put her on the other side.
-Talking about Karim. Now show a total tune and post photos together on their social networks. But last year there was a serious problem with that recording of Benzema talking to Mendy in which they did not leave you in a good place. How did they fix it?
Playing with Karim is amazing. I was always a big fan of Karim since I was a kid. It is a pleasure to play by your side. He always helps me. He is one of the best players in history. I really like to play with him. He always talks to me on the field and off it. It helped me, even when it was not known if I was going to succeed. In the field we talk a lot. Before the game he told me that I was going to help him score a goal and I did it with the penalty they gave me. So when they did it to me I looked at him. He knew it would mark him.
GABRIEL BOUYS (AFP)
-Marcelo came here when he was 18, like you, and also from Brazil as a child.
He always knows how to advise me when I am good or when I am bad. That confidence with his experience helps me a lot. He already told me that I was going to play here for a long time, like him. Hopefully it will be like that.
-How is your nationalization as a Spanish citizen going?
I think there is very little left, we are waiting. I am Brazilian at heart, but I hope to be here for many more years and now I also feel a bit Spanish.
“Before arriving at Madrid, Florentino told me that he was going to succeed”
-With Tité he begins to start with the 'canarinha' despite the great competition he has there in his position.
If I play to the top for Madrid and I play regularly, it is easier to have minutes with my national team. That has happened.
-These years have received very harsh criticism, even cruel and intolerable mockery. Is your feeling of having shut them up and exposed them? Do you have a grudge or desire for revenge?
I handle it well. From the first day I arrived I felt the pressure for having cost 45 million or the pressure itself from playing for Real Madrid. But I only listen to the people in my house and those who really trust me. I play for our fans, for myself, to be happy and content with myself and the club, not to shut up.
-Others in their place have lowered their heads and ended up leaving Madrid …
It is my personality and my desire to succeed in Madrid. Criticism is assumed as a footballer that I am, but I always value everything calmly because that is not in our power.
-He is 21 years old and already puts the Bernabéu on its feet. What is your ceiling as a player?
My dream is to play for many years at Madrid and win many Champions League (smile …). Well also some League, some Cup …
Emilio Naranjo (EFE)
-The Champions League brings him bad memories. In your first with Madrid, you got injured the night of Ajax when you were the best and then came the defeat of the Dutch. In 2020 he did not play for a minute against City in Manchester and they were left out. And this year he played against Chelsea as a right-back. Will the fourth time be the charm?
All that makes you grow as a footballer and to mature. Hopefully this season everything goes well, we reach the Champions League final and win the 14th for Madrid.
-The route begins in San Siro against Inter, Italian champions. But last year they already beat them there. What does the Champions have that makes all rivals fear you when they face each other?
That happens because we are the best team in the world, the players here are winners and we want to return to that inertia. The fans believe for that. We are going to fight hard to try to win everything.
-With the galactic signings it has made, many believe that PSG is almost obliged to win this Champions League.
Winning the Champions is very difficult. City were the best last season and they didn't win it either. We have to think about what is ours and that things are going to turn out well for us. Here almost all the players have won four Champions. It is a complete baggage and everything is ready to try to win and go further than last season. We already have our heads up after that painful elimination with Chelsea.
“Here I play like on the street, it is our culture of Brazil”
-Will you dare to dispute the Pichichi to Benzema?
I hope to keep scoring a lot of goals, but I'm going to help him score a lot too (smiles).
-Let's go back to Sunday. In recent seasons, his team had a hard time coming back from games. Against Celta there was a tremendous union between the players with a fabled second half.
We are working hard in Valdebebas and we are doing the perfect things so as not to fail like last season. It is very difficult in Madrid to assume a season without titles, as we did last year. Now you have to win titles again.
-The President has declared himself a fan of yours, personally and publicly. In 'El Chiringuito' he said recently that “Vinicius is not for sale, it is not played.” Where does Florentino Pérez's predilection for you come from?
Before my arrival in Madrid he already told me that. I arrived here with the confidence of the President and then that of the fans and my teammates. That makes everything easier to succeed.
-There are Madridistas who told me on Sunday before entering the Bernabéu that it was better for Mbappé to arrive next year because being you at this level you can aspire to everything.
Mbappé is a great player, I like him a lot, I'm also a fan of him. I'm sure he's going to have a great season at PSG and he's going to do things well. We'll see what he does with his future …
-I have been told that you now have the lowest percentage of body fat since you arrived in Madrid.
It's true. I have worked a lot on vacation to be as I am. I am eating well and taking care of myself. That shows when you get to the games. I am doing the right things to have a great season after four years here. I am going to triumph and fight for what I want.
-Leave me a message for the crowd of fans you have …
I really appreciate the love you give me. They are always by our side. And let them know that the best is yet to come.