Vinicius Junior had no on-field history with Schalke before Sunday’s friendly in Gelsenkirchen. That did not stop sections of the home support jeering him from the first minute to the last.
The moment now doing the rounds online came around the half-hour mark. As Schalke’s ultras ramped up their whistles during a Real Madrid corner, Vinicius smiled and blew a kiss toward the stand behind him.
According to Marca, cited by Goal, the crowd jeered Vinicius almost every time he touched the ball even though he had never played at Schalke’s stadium or faced the German side before. When he was substituted in the second half, the same section responded again.
The match Real Madrid won 3-0
Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring in the sixth minute and Dean Huijsen made it 2-0 in the 19th. Carlos Espí added a third in the 56th to close out the friendly at 3-0.
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Vinicius saw a first-half shot cleared off the line by defender Timo Becker and had a 72nd-minute goal ruled out for offside.
He was not the only Real Madrid player picked on. Substitute Marc Cucurella, on in the 61st minute, was also whistled by the Schalke crowd, with the reception traced to the handball that went unpunished in Spain’s Euro 2024 quarter-final win over Germany. UEFA later acknowledged a penalty should have been given.
Booed at Riazor three days earlier
The Schalke reception was the second such episode in less than a week. At the Teresa Herrera Trophy at the Riazor three days earlier, every Vinicius touch had been met with whistles from sections of the Deportivo La Coruña support as he captained Real Madrid to a 1-0 win.
Vinicius has been a regular target of hostile away crowds throughout his Real Madrid career, most seriously through repeated racist abuse in Spanish stadiums that has led to arrests and convictions. No such element was reported on Sunday, and the Brazilian’s answer, a smile and a blown kiss, is what has traveled furthest online.
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