Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal has declared that he does not feel Spain is racist country, ahead of their clash with Brazil. The match came about following a series of incidents involving Vinicius Junior, and is being held in tribute of the fight against racism.
The match will take place at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday night, and it will be just the 10th time the two nations have met. Carvajal explained that Vinicius tended not to address racism in the dressing room.
“It is an ideal setting and match to face the fight against racism. Vinicius speaks about it with his intimate circle, we help him as much as we can in the dressing room.”
Carvajal did defend Spain as a whole though, saying that in his view it was not a racist country.
“I don’t think Spain is a racist country, I think we have a very high level of integration. I come from Leganes and I have grown up with kids from all countries. Unfortunately, there are people who go to football to vent their anger. If there is a type of comment that could hurt someone, people go down that avenue.”
He also told the press that he would not be holding back against Vinicius, given both tend to be aggressive physical players. The pair will then hope to head into the final stretch of the season in top shape.
“You can injure yourself more by tackling weaker than by going in strong. Being a friendly, there are actions in which you can regulate yourself, you don’t go so far to the limit. For my part, I will not hold anything back. Vinicius surprised me for the better and the improvement he has shown has been spectacular. He received a lot of criticism and some players have not been able to get past that. He is now one of our leaders.”
Certainly Vinicius received no shortage of abuse during his first couple of years at Los Blancos, but it was either not racist, or not picked up. That went back to his profligacy in front of goal, something that has lamentably given way to numerous incidents of racism directed against Vinicius.
