Vinicius Jr — the reigning golden ball holder of the FIFA Club World Cup left a heartfelt message in Arabic for the lovely fans in Morocco upon winning the World Championship with Real Madrid. Vinicius expressed gratitude to the Moroccan fans for cheering him during the competition.

Getting supported by fans outside the Bernabeu has become an alien concept for Vinicius Jr and that is just sad. While people with social, racial, and nonsensical agendas against him would try to distract you with all of their energy, we must not forget what a great footballer we have on our side.

Four eye-opening stats

158

Vinicius Jr (158) is the leader in Europe’s top five leagues this season for take-on attempts, followed by a certain Leo Messi (110). In terms of successful take-ons, only Messi (59) has more than Vinicius (55).

126

No player in the top five leagues of Europe has more progressive carries than Vinicius (126) this season. No player has more carries into the penalty area than Vinicius Jr (71) either. Statistically, he is the best ball progressor in Europe when it comes to carrying the ball.

79

Vinicius Jr has been fouled 79 times, making him the most fouled player in the European top five leagues this season, followed by Mattia Zaccagni of Lazio )64) and PSG’s Neymar (63). Vinicius has also been tackled 81 times, making him the player who’s been tackled the most times during a take-on.

23

Vinicius has scored 16 goals and provided seven assists for Real Madrid in 33 matches of all competitions this season. On a season where the team’s talisman Karim Benzema has been sidelined for a sizeable duration, Vinicius has taken responsibility.

He scored 22 goals in total last season and has 16 already by the start of February this year. This proves last season wasn’t a fluke. Real Madrid's next franchise player is climbing on his trajectory as planned.