Vinicius Junior broke down in tears in a media conference when asked about racism ahead of Tuesday night’s friendly between Spain and Brazil.
The Brazil and Real Madrid forward has been the target of racist abuse throughout his time in the Spanish capital and the ‘One Skin’ match at the Bernabeu was arranged last June as part of an anti-racism campaign in support of the player.
It followed Real’s LaLiga match in Valencia last season in which Vinicius Jr was racially abused, while he has continued to be targeted by Real’s rival fans during the current campaign.
He said: “It’s something very sad what I have been going through here. It’s tough. I’ve been fighting against this for a long time.
“It’s exhausting because you feel like you are alone. I’ve made so many official complaints, but no one is ever punished.
“More and more I’m losing my desire to play, but I’ll keep fighting.”
When asked again about the abuse by journalists, an emotional Vinicius Jr replied: “I’m sorry.
“I just want to play football, do everything for my club and my family and never see black people suffering.”
Spain defender and Vinicius’ Real Madrid team-mate Dani Carvajal said in an earlier press conference that he did not think his country was racist, but that the problem did exist in some sections on the terraces.
Carvajal said: “Those type of people should not be allowed into stadiums because it’s the ugliest thing that exists in sport.
“I think that tomorrow we have an ideal stage and match to face the fight against racism.
“A Spain-Brazil (match) is something fantastic. We are going to have a lot of fans with us in our stadium and we are going to treat it as a final.”
Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente, whose side lost their friendly against Colombia at the London Stadium 1-0 on Friday, said his side will take the initiative against Brazil.
“This match is the 10th that Spain plays against Brazil. It could perfectly be a semi-final or final of a World Cup,” De la Fuente said.
“We want and we will live up to a match of these characteristics. We have to continue to be ourselves and make as few mistakes as possible.
“Our approach will be to focus on our strengths, controlling the conditions of the opposing players, and we want to be the ones who take the initiative.”
De la Fuente confirmed Manchester City midfielder Rodrigo joined up with the rest of the squad on Monday afternoon after missing the morning’s training session due to personal reasons.
Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner
Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.
Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.
The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.
She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.
But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.
"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.
"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.
"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.
"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.
"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
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