Former Real Madrid player goes viral for controversial Vinicius Junior rant - 'In the end, he's the one crying'

Former Real Madrid player Javier Balboa has caused uproar on social media for his lengthy rant on the attitude of Vinicius Junior, amid a focus on the racial abuse he has received over the past years.

Vinicius broke down in tears on Monday during a press conference, expressing his frustrations with the Spanish authorities, and explaining the suffering he has been going through on account of the racial abuse.

He was met with almost unanimous support, but on late night show El Chiringuito, Balboa explained that from his point of view, Vinicius needed to work on his attitude. The programme has a habit of incendiary remarks, and exhibiting anything but sympathy for Vinicius was always likely to cause a backlash. This was Balboa’s rant.

“If I see that Rudiger is black and Vinicius is black, I will get into with it with both of them, but if the one I can affect is Vinicius, I’ll go after him. There is nobody that leaves their house thinking I’m going to go after Vinicius just because I feel like it. I’m going to go after Militao, Rudiger, Camavinga, ah! No, I’m going to go after Vinicius because it affects him.”

“So it’s he who has to work on his attitude. And don’t misinterpret what I’m saying, he should still take legal action, one thing doesn’t negate the other, but you work on yourself, on turning your back, so that instead of squaring up to people, you walk away, and then it’s one or ten incidents, instead of 50.”

“In the end, the pictures are there, the one who is crying is him. He is the one suffering from this. We’re not doubting his suffering. The one who is facing repercussions regarding his game is him, nobody else.”