Former Brazilian player Pintinho, who played for Sevilla during the 1980s, he gave an interview to the Spanish portal The Uncheck and issued his opinion on the Vinícius Júnior case. For him, who is black, the attacker of the Real Madrid is wrong to hit back at racist slurs and should just focus on the match.
“I think he’s wrong and he has to focus on his game. He loses focus very quickly, people will provoke him and he falls for provocations. There are competent people to make decisions if there are those who sing and offend, it’s not Vinícius who have to face the public. Athletes have to focus on the profession”, he argued.
Pintinho also denied that Spain is a racist country, although he also confirmed that he received racial slurs during his time at Sevilla between 1981 and 1984.
“Here they receive us wonderfully. Real Madrid and Barcelona have many black players. Vini easily gets into provocations, there is always something unpresentable, in football and on the street. We have to overcome these things,” he said.
I LOVE THEM!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU AND THANK YOU! ✊🏿🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/HsoCUB4l5I
— Vini Jr. (@vinijr) May 24, 2023
Pintinho recalled a specific case of racism in Spanish football that he suffered and commented on how he dealt with the fact.
“It happened to me in Pamplona. I was angry, of course, but I had a reaction with myself and I said to myself: ‘I have to get over this’. I kept playing and at the end of the game I gave them a (goal) penalty”, he recalled. .
“They sang to me the song ‘What does the black have’, a song that was in fashion at the time. They sang to me throughout the game and at the end came the penalty and they had to shut up. Vinicius has to do it the same, focus on his game and not look at the imbeciles who insult him from the stands”, he concluded when criticizing the athlete of the Brazilian National Team once again.
Source: Gazetaesportiva

Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.