Igor Vinícius wins Vojvoda’s trust, secures Santos right-back spot | OneFootball

A Vila Boy, right-back Igor Vinícius returned to Santos in the middle of the year and raised some doubts among part of the fans. Despite this, in this final stretch of the year, the defender rediscovered his good form, gained the trust of coach Juan Pablo Vojvoda, and established himself as a starter for Peixe.

Igor Vinícius switched from São Paulo to Santos in July of this year. Before being signed, the full-back struggled with lower back pain, but arrived at the Santos club already recovered. The player had suffered from some injuries that prevented him from having a consistent run with the Tricolor team, but that history did not repeat itself with the Alvinegro Praiano.

Even so, the number 18 had difficulties establishing himself as a starter at the beginning of this second stint at Santos. Furthermore, almost a month after his arrival, he saw the competition increase with the signing of the experienced Mayke, who came to compete for the right-back position.

It was with the arrival of Vojvoda that Igor Vinícius’ situation changed, but not immediately. He started his journey with the coach as a substitute, but gradually gained more confidence and managed to string together a run of five consecutive starts.

(Photo: Raul Baretta/ Santos FC)

In the match against Flamengo, after being benched against Palmeiras, the full-back returned to the starting lineup and made a serious mistake that led to Flamengo’s third goal. The defender, however, did not let it shake him. The turning point came quickly, when he perhaps had his best performance in a Santos shirt in the 1-0 win over Palmeiras.

Igor Vinícius’ offensive and defensive performance in the derby even earned him a lot of praise from Neymar. From then on, he established himself as the starting right-back. The number 18 finished the season on a high and hopes to maintain this high level next year.

In this return to Santos, Igor Vinícius played 20 matches, 15 as a starter, and provided two assists — both in the last two rounds of the Brazilian Championship, against Juventude and Cruzeiro.

With Igor Vinícius available, Santos’ official debut next year does not yet have a set date, but it will take place on the weekend of January 10 and 11, against Novorizontino, at Vila Belmiro, for the first round of the Campeonato Paulista.

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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.