Vinicius Junior hits back at critics after winning FIFA The Best Men’s Player award: ‘They have tried to diminish me’

Vinicius Junior has accused his critics of attempting to ‘invalidate’ and ‘diminish’ him. The Brazilian’s comments on Instagram comes after he won FIFA The Best Men’s Player of the Year award on Tuesday.

Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior slammed his critics after winning FIFA The Best Men’s Player of the Year award, claiming that they attempted to “invalidate” and “diminish” him. The Brazilian winning the Player of the Year award comes two months after he lost the Ballon d’Or award to Manchester City’s Spanish midfielder Rodri in controversial fashion.

Vinicius topped FIFA The Best Men’s Player of the Year standings with 48 votes, five more than Rodri (43 votes) and 11 more than Vinicius’ Real Madrid teammate Jude Bellingham (37 votes). “Today I write to the child who has seen so many idols lift that trophy,” Vinicius said on Instagram.

His time has come. Or rather, my time has come. The time to say … yes, I am the best player in the world and I have fought hard for it.

“They have tried and tried to invalidate me, to diminish me. But they are not ready. No one is going to tell me who I should fight for, how I should behave. When I was at São Gonçalo, the system didn’t care about me. It almost swallowed me up.

“I won for myself, for my family. With a lot of support along the way: Flamengo, Real Madrid, the Brazilian national team, my hundreds of teammates over the years … the people who accompany me every day in my routine, those who admire me … The best player in the world,” he stated.