BRAZIL
Vinicius Jr out of Brazil’s game against Peru
The Real Madrid winger is not part of Dorival Júnior’s squad for the current international break.
Vinicius Jr is not in Brazil’s starting XI against Peru (8:45pm ET / 5:45 p.m. PT.) for one very good reason: he’s not even in the squad.
Calm down, don’t worry, and think back. Vinicius Jr is not part of Brazil’s most recent squad made up by Dorival Júnior due to an injury he picked up in Real Madrid’s win against Villarreal CF in LaLiga, right before the international break commenced.
Yes, I agree, it feels like 64 years since we last saw club football, but it really wasn’t that long ago and everything is fine. The Brazilian winger is simply recovering in Real Madrid’s Valdebebas training ground facilities and will soon be back in action.
What injury does Vinicius Jr have?
“He is stiff, he has had a cervical problem, he is completely stiff, it’s sore, it hurts, he is going to have tests in the next few hours” were the words from Carlo Ancelotti’s only slightly raised eyebrow in the aftermath of the 2-0 win against El Submarino Amarillo on October 5, with both coaching staff and medical personnel calm regarding his recovery.
During the international break, the players who remained in Madrid were given a few days off to relax and recover, and they returned to training on October 15. It’s just as well that the players who did not partake in international duties got some rest, as a gruelling month of tough fixtures awaits Los Blancos once club football resumes.
First, they take on high-flying Celta Vigo (Oct 19) before welcoming Borussia Dortmund (Oct 22) to the Santiago bernabéu in a replay of the Champions League final from last season. After that, they have El Clásico (Oct 26), which will be played at home as well.
And the high stakes don’t stop there for Vinicius, who is one of the standout candidates to win the upcoming Ballon d’Or, which will be given out at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on October 28.
For now, however, fans can rest easy that the physical problems keeping Vini out of action are nothing to be concerned about and the player is, every day, getting closer and closer to full fitness, and potentially to being proclaimed the best player in the world. The CONMEBOL qualifier between Brazil and Peru and Bolivia will be played on Tuesday, October 15th with kick off at 8:45pm ET / 5:45 p.m. PT.