Endrick and Yamal shine as Vinicius Junior’s Brazil draw 3-3 with Spain in ‘One Skin’ friendly

Brazil’s Lucas Paqueta celebrates scoring their third goal with Endrick during the “One Skin” international friendly football match between Spain and Brazil at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid. (Reuters)
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Updated 27 March 2024
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Endrick and Yamal shine as Vinicius Junior’s Brazil draw 3-3 with Spain in ‘One Skin’ friendly

  • The international friendly came a day after Vinicius broke down in tears while talking about the continued racist insults that he is subjected to in Spain
  • Brazilian players went onto the field wearing black jackets with the slogan “One Skin, One Identity”
  • The jackets will be auctioned to help an anti-racism campaign

MADRID: Teenagers Lamine Yamal and Endrick took the spotlight as Brazil drew 3-3 with Spain on Tuesday in the “One Skin” international friendly that was set up to highlight the fight against racism after a series of insults aimed at the Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior.

Vinicius was relatively quiet in a match in which Brazil equalized with a penalty converted by Lucas Paqueta deep into stoppage time after Rodri’s spot kick in the 87th had put Spain ahead.

Brazil had rallied from two goals down with an equalizer scored by Vinicius’ future Madrid teammate Endrick, the 17-year-old Palmeiras player who had made his scoring debut with Brazil just three days previous.

The Spanish lineup was led by 16-year-old Barcelona forward Yamal, who helped set up three goals and received a standing ovation from the crowd at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium when he was substituted near the end of the match.

“Yamal and Endrick are players who have a chance to be stars at the 2026 World Cup,” Brazil coach Dorival Junior said. “They both play at a very high level.”

The international friendly came a day after Vinicius broke down in tears while talking about the continued racist insults that he is subjected to in Spain, saying he was losing his desire to keep playing but pledged to continue his fight against racism.

Vinicius was loudly applauded when he was substituted in the 71st. The 23-year-old Brazilian, the Seleçao’s captain on Tuesday, received some of the loudest jeers when his name was introduced ahead of the match.

Brazilian players went onto the field wearing black jackets with the slogan “One Skin, One Identity.” The jackets will be auctioned to help an anti-racism campaign.

Vinicius, who has been accused of provoking fans and opponents, got into verbal altercations with Spanish players, including from the bench after leaving the match. He also shoved Spain defender Aymeric Laporte from behind while play was stopped.

Laporte tweeted after the match the question: “Maybe he wanted to dance…?” accompanied by a previous tweet with the image of Vinicius’ shove and quoting the Brazilian from Monday, when he said, “I just want to play soccer.”

The friendly game was set up by Spanish and Brazilian soccer officials amid the uproar that followed the racist insults aimed at Vinicius in a Spanish league game in Valencia 10 months ago. Many believed the incident would be a turning point for soccer in Spain, but another wave of racist abuse targeting Vinicius has followed.

While most of the attention was on Vinicius, it was Yamal threatening the most with his speed and quick moves to get past Brazilian defenders.

Rodri put Spain ahead by converting a 13th-minute penalty kick after Yamal made a run through the right side and was brought down by Joao Gomes inside the area.

Vinicius had Brazil’s first shot on goal in the 17th but it was easily saved by Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon.

Yamal set up Dani Olmo’s 36th-minute goal and Rodrigo pulled Brazil closer in the 40th after a mistake by Simon.

Endrick, who will arrive in Spain at the end of the season, equalized and was also set to take the late penalty but instead gave the ball to Paqueta. The crowd jeered as they wanted to see the new Madrid player try to score again.

Vinícius went to defend Endrick from the bench after Spanish players loudly complained because of a hard foul by his future teammate late in the match.

The Spaniards appeared unsettled with how Brazilian players celebrated the late equalizer near the Spanish fans.

Spain, preparing for the upcoming European Championship in Germany, was coming off a 1-0 loss to Colombia on Friday in London.

“I’m happy because we were better than Brazil in all areas,” coach Luis de la Fuente said. “I’m proud of the match we played.”

De la Fuente said he was “ashamed” by the jeers directed at Atletico Madrid forward Alvaro Morata by the crowd at the Bernabeu, where Morata used to play for earlier in his career.

Vinicius has been subjected to multiple racist insults since arriving in Spain six years ago. He complained on Monday about the lack of punishment for perpetrators and asked for help from FIFA, UEFA and other soccer institutions in the fight against racism.


Hosts Morocco off to winning start at Africa Cup of Nations

Updated 22 December 2025
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Hosts Morocco off to winning start at Africa Cup of Nations

  • Soufiane Rahimi had a penalty saved in a frustrating first half for much-fancied Morocco
  • Win saw Morocco, Africa’s best team in FIFA rankings in 11th place, to extend world-record winning run to 19 consecutive matches

RABAT: Brahim Diaz and Ayoub El-Kaabi scored second-half goals as hosts Morocco got their Africa Cup of Nations bid off to a winning start by beating minnows Comoros 2-0 in the tournament’s opening game on Sunday.
Soufiane Rahimi had a penalty saved in a frustrating first half for much-fancied Morocco, but Diaz fired home from inside the area 10 minutes after the interval at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in the capital Rabat.
Substitute El-Kaabi then got the second with a stunning overhead kick, and the victory on a wet and cold night sets the Atlas Lions up for the potentially tougher tests to come in Group A against Mali and Zambia.
The result also allowed Morocco, Africa’s best team in the FIFA rankings in 11th place, to extend their world-record winning run to 19 consecutive matches.
The game was played out before a crowd of 60,180, with Moroccan Crown Prince Moulay Hassan — who appeared on the pitch ahead of kick-off — and FIFA president Gianni Infantino among those in attendance.
Morocco’s star man and captain Achraf Hakimi also ended up watching the entire game from the bench, with coach Walid Regragui preserving the Paris Saint-Germain full-back who has not played since suffering an ankle injury with his club at the start of November.
It looked set to be a long night for Comoros when Morocco won a penalty in the 10th minute as playmaker Diaz was tripped inside the box by Iyad Mohamed.
But Rahimi’s spot-kick was kept out by the legs of Yannick Pandor as the Comoros goalkeeper dived to his right, and the visitors then succeeded in thwarting their more illustrious hosts for the remainder of the first half.

- Stunning overhead kick -

However Morocco, who also saw veteran center-back Romain Saiss come off injured early on, succeeded in breaking down their opponents after half-time.
Comoros, the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago who are 108th in the world rankings, had their resistance ended as the opening goal arrived on 55 minutes.
Manchester United’s Noussair Mazraoui, starting at right-back with Hakimi not yet quite fully fit, picked up the ball on the right side of the penalty area and squared for Real Madrid’s Spanish-born number 10 Diaz to score.
Morocco, who had seen Neil El Aynaoui almost break the deadlock just before that, then saw space open up although Comoros had a chance of their own as Rafiki Said was denied when clean through on goal.
Mazraoui forced a good save from Pandor before El-Kaabi, of Greek giants Olympiakos, lit up the occasion by meeting a cross in from the left by Anass Salah-Eddine with a magnificent overhead bicycle kick to make it 2-0.
Morocco’s next game will be on Friday against Mali, who begin their campaign by taking on Zambia in Casablanca on Monday.
Elsewhere on Monday, South Africa face Angola in Marrakech before Mohamed Salah’s Egypt — the record seven-time African champions chasing a first title since 2010 — get their bid up and running against outsiders Zimbabwe in Agadir in Group B.
This latest edition of the Cup of Nations is the first to start in one year and end in another, with the final to take place in Rabat on January 18.