Brazil claimed a 4-1 victory over Guinea on Saturday night in the highly-anticipated friendly match that is part of a campaign to tackle racism in football.
The game was organised on the back of Selecao and Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior being the subject of multiple racist abuses during the 2022-23 La Liga season, the most recent coming last month in a game between Los Blancos and Valencia at the Mestalla.
Both Brazil and Guinea players took the knee before the game and stood behind with a strong message in Portuguese that read “with racism, there is no game”.
A racist incident sadly occurred before kick off when Vinicius’ friend and advisor Felipe Silva, had a banana pointed at him by one of the security guards with the guard telling Silva to surrender and the banana was his gun. Vinicius took to Twitter, describing the incident as disgusting and asked for camera footage of the incident.
Enquanto eu jogava com a já histórica camisa preta e me emocionava, meu amigo foi humilhado e ironizado na entrada do estádio. O tratamento foi triste, em todos os momentos duvidaram da cena surreal que aconteceu. Os bastidores são nojentos. Mas pra deixar tudo público, pergunto… https://t.co/41RIJIJiuZ
— Vini Jr. (@vinijr) June 17, 2023
Brazil started the game at the RCDE Stadium in Barcelona in an all-black kit and got things off when Newcastle United midfielder Joelinton, making his international debut, scored in the 27th minute.
Real Madrid youngster Rodrygo doubled it three minutes later before Guinea pulled one back in the 36th minute via Sehrou Guirassy.
Com racismo não tem jogo!
Vencemos dentro de campo. E vamos vencer fora de campo essa dura batalha contra o racismo
Brasil 4×1 Guiné pic.twitter.com/c6GtVllo2g
— CBF Futebol (@CBF_Futebol) June 17, 2023
Brazil reverted to their usual yellow and blue kit in the second half and another Real Madrid player in Eder Militao added the South American giants third goal of the night at the restart. The final goal of the game came from the man who was the focus of attention in the anti-racism campaign, Vinicius, scoring from the penalty spot two minutes to the end of regulation time.
Brazil will play in another friendly, this time with reigning African champions Senegal, at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon on Tuesday.
