"The Ballon d’Or was an INJUSTICE" - Brazil boss Dorival Junior defends Vinicius

At Wednesday's press conference prior to the match with Venezuela for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Brazil's coach addressed statements in which Monaco winger Vanderson, also in Brazil's national team, said that "the real winner" of the Ballon d'Or was Vinicius Junior.
The Real Madrid winger missed out on the prestigious award after receiving fewer votes than the Spanish player Rodri.
Dorival Junior asked to turn the page since, in his opinion, the player's greatest achievement “is to have earned the respect of the Brazilian people”. He also said that he is a player who “reinvents himself at all times”, who “went through (difficult) situations in his career” and still “did not lose his status as a protagonist”.
The coach labelled the final result as an "injustice" due to “an error of those who evaluated ‘ since, "individually speaking”, the Real Madrid striker “was the most important, decisive and perhaps lethal player” of last season.
The five-time world champions will face Venezuela on Thursday in Maturin in the 11th matchday of the qualifying phase for the 2026 World Cup, and next Tuesday they will face Uruguay in Salvador.