Picture Credit: Twitter
In an international friendly on June 17, Saturday, Vinicius Jr and his Brazilian side were spotted wearing black kit to play against Guinea at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat in the wider Barcelona urban area. The match ended with the five-time World Cup champions Brazil emerging as winners by 4-1 margin against the West African nation.
It was revealed that the Brazilian side sported the black kit for the first-time ever in their history, instead of their iconic bright yellow kit, as part of the anti-racism campaign, while showing support to Vinicius Jr, who has been a victim of racial abuse in Spain during La Liga recently. On May 21, the Real Madrid star was subject to race insults by a section of the Valencia fans at the Mestalla Stadium.
Before kickoff at the stadium of La Liga side Espanyol, both Brazilian and Guinea players stood in front of the banner in Portuguese, which read in English, “With racism, there is no game.” Vinicius Jr and his teammates also took a knee to mark the occasion with a minute’s silence.
But at the same time, yet another racial incident happened inside the stadium, to Felipe Silveira, the friend and advisor to Vincius Jr, according to Ednaldo Rodrigues, the President of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF).
He was quoted as saying, “The fight against racism, a crime that needs to stop around the world, is also why we are here. That's also why our national team played the first half of the match in black. And today, once again, another criminal was publicly exposed.”
Notably, during the match, Vinicus Jr scored a penalty in the 87th minute to seal the game for Brazil, after Joelinton, Rodrygo, and Eder Militao scoring a goal each.
