Vinicius Junior has confirmed that he never dreamed of winning the Ballon d’Or, revealing at the same time that Real Madrid asked him not to go to the 2024 ceremony.
In the press conference before the Atletico Madrid match in the Champions League, Vinicius responded to whether the award was stolen from him due to the journalists’ votes.
The Brazilian international said, “No, people vote for what they think. I have my own ideas. I never dreamed of winning the Ballon d’Or, but when you get close to it, you start to believe it.”
He added, “I will have other opportunities. I have already won two European Cups and I am here to win more.”
As for not attending the ceremony, he said, “I do what the club tells me, and the club asked me to stay in Madrid.”
Vinicius also talked about what annoys him the most in matches, revealing, “When the referees do not give the card to others and when I protest for the first time they give me a card.”
“I do a lot of things I shouldn’t do, but every game I get better and calmer. So little by little I’m getting better,” he continued. “I’ve been here a long time, but people forget that I’m 24 and I still have a lot to learn and I’ll keep learning until the end of my career.”
