Million Dollar Debut

Brazilian 16-year-old set to become the world’s most expensive teenager

- Tim Vickery

It was impossible not to feel sorry for Vinicius Junior as he played his first few minutes as a senior professional.

A crowd of well over 40,000 were in Rio’s Maracana stadium to see Flamengo take on Atletico Mineiro in the opening game of the Brazilian championship, a few days before a crunch Libertadores Cup game. Yet all this was overshadowed by the hope that Vinicius, one of the stars of the recent South American Under-17 Championship, would come off the bench to make his first-team debut.

As the teams were announced, his name and photo were greeted by the loudest roar. And, Flamengo goal aside, the biggest cheer of the day came when it became clear that he was going to be brought on.

The game was all square at 1-1, and with stoppage time there were just over 10 minutes to go. Atletico had already made all their substitutions, but right back Carlos Cesar – the direct opponent of Vinicius, who likes to cut in from the left – was down and clearly injured. After lengthy treatment he was able to return to the pitch, but only to hobble around as an improvised centre-forward.