"Here, Balague gives his perspective and details how the 25-year-old forward has become a global symbol of resistance against discrimination. Football should have been revelling in a masterpiece last night - Vinicius scoring a goal so outrageous it deserved to dominate every headline. Instead, once again, the sport was dragged into the same rancid swamp it never seems able to climb out of: alleged racism, denials, excuses and a staggering lack of understanding from those who should know better."
"Vinicius has been here before many, many times. In fact, he has now faced 20 incidents of alleged abuse. The latest accusation is that Benfica's Argentine midfielder Gianluca Prestianni racially abused him minutes after that wonder goal. Prestianni denies the allegation. Vinicius has been backed strongly by a number of his team-mates, in particular Kylian Mbappe who told the media he heard a racist term used five times."
""These talents are able to do these beautiful things, but unfortunately was not just happy to score that astonishing goal," he told Amazon Prime Video Sport. "When you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way." He then went on to claim that Benfica couldn't possibly be a racist football club for the simple reason that its greatest-ever player Eusebio was black."
Vinicius Jr scored an extraordinary goal during Real Madrid's Champions League play-off at Benfica, but play was halted for ten minutes after he reported alleged racist abuse. The incident was described as the 20th time Vinicius has faced such alleged abuse during eight years at Real Madrid. Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni was accused and denied the allegation. Teammates, notably Kylian Mbappe, said they heard racist language. Benfica manager Jose Mourinho suggested the player provoked the reaction and defended the club by citing former player Eusebio, prompting criticism of media and institutional responses.
Read at www.bbc.com
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