‘It is an honour and joy to be here and wear the historic shirt’: Real Madrid’s rising star Vinicius Jnr becomes poster boy for Brazil’s stunning Copa America second strip… which marks centenary of tournament-winning side of 1919
- Real Madrid youngster is clearly regarded as huge star of the future for Brazil
- Selecao opted to use the 18-year-old as the poster boy for their second kit
- The white strip pays homage to the team that beat Uruguay 1-0 in 1919
- Vinicius said: ‘It is an honor and joy to be here and wear a historic shirt’
Vinicius Jr has been selected by Brazil to model their second strip for this summer’s Copa America.
Real Madrid’s 18-year-old is highly regarded and tipped by many to become one of the best players in world football.
And clearly those in Brazil feel the same as he was especially chosen to model the white kit marking the centenary since Brazil’s Copa America win in 1919.
Vinicius Jr is a rising star and was chosen to model Brazil’s Copa America alternate kit
The Real Madrid forward has been a breakout sensation this year but is yet to play for Brazil
‘It is an honor and joy to be here and wear a historic shirt that had not been used for so long, thank you very much for the love of all,’ Vinicius said.
Spanish publication AS ran with a front page of the starlet in the new kit and the headline: ‘Vinicius Superstar’.
The classic shirt pays homage to the team that beat Uruguay by a solitary Friedenreich goal 100 years ago.
But the white fell out of favour after Brazil lost against the Uruguayans in the 1950 World Cup final on home soil.
Now it is back and will have the likes of Vinicius Jr trying to do it justice.
Vinicius is expected to make his debut for the Selecao when the Copa America kicks off
AS ran with this as the front page and the reputation of Vinicius is continuing to grow
The teenager is yet to play a game for Brazil but Tite evidently sees him as a huge part of his future plans.
This season has been a breakout year for Vinicius and he was given a run of games under the now departed Santiago Solari.
He was frequently the most dangerous attacking threat on the pitch for Real and reportedly continued to stun his team-mates in training.
Having arrived from Flamengo for £39million this season, he has made 19 starts and 10 appearances from the bench this term. He’s scored four times and provided eight assists in total.
