Neymar made his long awaited return from injury off the bench for Brazil during their 3-0 drubbing of a clearly overmatched Scotland to punch their tickets to a 14th straight World Cup knockout stage apperance, but while Ney had his moment, there is no question that the entire match between Brazil and Scotland was all about Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior.
The Real Madrid left winger had another scintillating performance as the leading man for the Selecao, scoring two goals and looking as efficient as an elite striker to notch his back to back brace - and quietly move past Thierry Henry in all time goal contributions at the World Cup.
Vinicius Jr. was unplayable with eight combined dribbles completed and fouls drawn, as well as a brace of goals that included a brilliant touch to fool Scotland's goalkeeper and an almost Karim Benzema like peel away from the defense to deposit a rare headed goal that had Carlo Ancelotti buzzing.
Vinicius Jr. is proving he is Brazil's best now
After the game, Neymar made it unequivocal to the press, via Madrid Xtra, that it is Vinicius Junior and not himself who is now the star of this team. Ney said, “Vini Jr. is our star player. He’s in an incredible form, deciding matches.”
Now that is nothing new at all to Madridistas, who have been saying for years now that Vinicius Jr. is the new face of Brazil, defending him against those who label him a disappointment for the national team when that is clearly not the case. And now, with an actual top coach in Carlo Ancelotti, Vini Jr. is backing that all up for the world to see.
Neymar publicly admitting that Vinicius Jr. is the new main man for Brazil is a massive, massive deal. No matter what a few terrible pundits in England and America say, Ney is a shining light and legend of the sport, especially in Brazil.
In the 2000s, Brazil had many superstars sharing the spotlight. In the 2010s, it was only Neymar carrying a pretty lousy team to relevancy - and look what happened in 2014 when he was not there and how Germany turned them into mince. Hulk, Fred, Oscar, Willian...such were some of the dignitaries sharing the attack with Neymar rather than Neymar, Ricardo Kaka, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Robinho, and Luis Fabiano before him.
There is a new era of Brazilian football now, though, bridged from Neymar to Vinicius Junior and then later Endrick, Estevao Wililan, Rayan, and the others. Vini Jr. is the present of Brazil, and everyone who knows ball also knows this.
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