Brazil seem to be going through something of questioning of their identity when it comes to football, if not a full-blown crisis. The Selecao will wait a year for Carlo Ancelotti to become available, before making him their first ever foreign coach – news that has not been received well everywhere. The latest to criticise the state of Brazilian football is Real Vallaolid President and legendary striker Ronaldo Nazario.
His method of doing so was slightly unexpected. Ronaldo explained just how raw he felt Vinicius Junior was when he arrived at Real Madrid.
“They didn’t prepare him well or improve his technical fundamentals: he didn’t know how to control the ball with his left foot! Today, after growing in Spain, he is the most decisive attacker in world football.”
Vinicius was famously a figure of fun in the press for his poor finishing before he exploded into form in 2021. Ronaldo went on to highlight why he feels it took him so long to show his best self, beyond the natural development of a young player.
“Vini arrived in Europe without refinement, in training. For many years, the talents that left, left like unpolished diamonds. His is a clear case. He was sold to Madrid at the age of 18 and started at Castilla. You saw that he wasn’t rounded yet, to the point that everyone there said that he was going to be loaned out until he returned to Brazil,” Ronaldo continued on the Mano a Mano podcast, as carried by Relevo.
“He has developed a lot with training programmes, with professional methodology and with the help of great technicians. He has gone from water to wine in two years, but when he signed… And he was playing for Flamengo. They didn’t train him properly right, because they didn’t improve his left leg or his relationship with space and time on the pitch. He only got better here.”
Ronaldo was at least optimistic about the future of the five-time world champions though.
“Brazil will make a leap in quality in five or six years. Coaching and methodology courses have already begun, the CBF has invested a lot in it. It is something that is not talked about much, perhaps even because its image has been damaged a bit, but this is going to change the level of football in our country, both in the training of coaches and in grassroots programmes.”
Since losing 7-1 to Germany in the World Cup semi-finals in 2014, Brazil have fallen at the quarter-final stage twice, first to Belgium and then Croatia on penalties. Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes are likely to be at the forefront of their efforts to go further in 2026, but will have the weight of the nation on their shoulders.
