Dorival comes to Vini's defense due to the pressure imposed on the star and asks for patience

Seen as one of Real Madrid's leading players and the favorite to win this year's Ballon d'Or, Vini Júnior faces high expectations every time he steps onto the pitch for the Brazilian national team. However, coach Dorival Júnior believes that it is necessary to balance the expectations and demands placed on the forward so that he can reproduce the same performance he showed for the Spanish club with the national team. Dorival notes that Vini has recently been dealing with a situation similar to the one Neymar faced more than a decade ago: the pressure of being seen as the one responsible for solving the Brazilian team's problems.

Dorival's opinion

After a discreet performance by Vini in the national team's 1-0 victory over Ecuador last Saturday, Dorival tried to ease the pressure on the striker and asked for patience. “We want to see the athlete producing at all times, at all times, in the same way he does at the club. We have cycles within the clubs, there are times when Rodrygo will be the highlight for a month, two months, and soon Vini will be in the same condition… We are at the beginning of the season, we cannot forget that”he said. The coach also brought up the importance of taking into account the athlete's physical recovery. “We always have high expectations for young players who are still in the process of completing their training and recovering physically from a grueling year they have had. We need to be very calm. This is the same expectation we have for Neymar, who at all times had to be the solution to our problems.”Dorival highlighted.

Vini's situation

Vini has been called up to the Brazilian national team since 2019, accumulating 34 matches and scoring five goals. However, the striker has yet to stand out in a notable way. In this year's Copa América, despite being one of the team's main hopes, he only scored two goals against Paraguay. In addition, Vini was suspended for accumulating yellow cards, missing the elimination to Uruguay in the quarterfinals, decided on penalties.

^{Vini on the field for the National Team (Photo: reproduction/Instagram/@vinijr)}

With Neymar out, recovering from a serious knee injury, the spotlight is on Vini. Dorival is trying to act as a mediator in the expectations generated around the star. “It is a process of change, we have to respect stages and processes, learn that these processes are a little slow, they require time and patience for things to happen at the right time. I say again to the fans: stay calm, we are going to restore the confidence of the Brazilian team, we have very good players, who play for the biggest clubs in European football, as well as in Brazilian football. In two years, I have no hesitation in saying that we will have a balanced team, aggressive as the fans want, playing consistently and transmitting even more confidence than at this moment.”said the coach.

Now the National Team returns to the field next Tuesday (10), to face Paraguay, in Asunción, at 9:30 pm (Brasília time), for the eighth round of the Qualifiers.

Featured photo: Vini in the game (reproduction/Lucas Figueiredo/CBF)