‘Flamengo Didn’t Improve His Left Foot’: Ronaldo Nazario Criticises Vinicius Jr’s Development at Youth Level – News18

Former Brazilian striker Ronaldo Nazario has reportedly accused Vinicius Jr’s childhood club CR Flamengo of not paying attention to the forward’s left foot. In a Tweet on a fan page named Madrid Xtra, it was written that Ronaldo has criticised Flamengo, saying the club did not prepare Vinicius properly at the youth level. According to Ronaldo, the Brazilian Serie A club lacked in improving the “technical fundamentals” of Vinicius, who learnt such aspects of the game after joining Real Madrid in 2018. “Flamengo didn’t improve his left foot, the technical fundamentals, the time & space on the pitch. He learned it all at Real Madrid,” Ronaldo said, as quoted by the Twitter page.

Although, the data on Transfermarket.com tells a different story. According to the website, Vinicius scored at least two goals with his left foot while playing for Flamengo. After entering the Brazilian club during his teenage, Vinicius took very little time to earn the senior team call-up. At the age of 16, Vinicius made his debut in the Brazilian Serie A during a league game against Atletico Mineiro which ended in a 1-1 draw. Before jetting off to Spain, Vinicius made 49 appearances for Flamengo across all competitions, netting 10 goals while providing 4 assists.

Vinicius was able to demonstrate his quality during his two-season spell in the Brazilian league, attracting a mouth-watering deal from Real Madrid. The Spanish giants spent a staggering amount of €45 million to rope in the 18-year-old Vinicius. After joining Madrid, Vinicius was quick to become a household name in European club football. He has already spent five seasons at Santiago Bernabeu, representing Los Blancos in 225 games across all competitions. Among his 59 goals for Madrid, Vinicius’ left foot was involved on eight occasions. There might be some criticisms about his weak foot but his recent stats show the Brazilian star getting improved day by day.

Vinicius has considered Ronaldo Nazario his idol, having shown respect for the country legend publicly on several occasions. It did happen a few days back when Vinicius acknowledged, “I watch Ronaldo’s video.” During his career days, Ronaldo was also part of Real Madrid for five seasons.