Wallace Yan's celebration, a dig at Benfica and tribute to Vinicius Jr | OneFootball

Benfica (POR) did not have good memories of Wallace Yan’s goal

Flamengo beat Benfica (POR) 2-1 this Saturday (11) in the final friendly of the red-and-black club’s mid-season break. Mengão’s second goal came from Wallace Yan, who paid tribute to Vinicius Júnior in his celebration and, in doing so, brought back bad memories for the Portuguese side.

That is because, on February 17 of this year, Real Madrid (ESP) and Benfica faced each other in the Champions League playoffs at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon. Then, five minutes into the second half, Vini Jr scored the first and only goal of the match, giving the Spanish team the win.

During the celebration, the Flamengo academy product went over to the corner flag and ‘danced,’ which infuriated Benfica fans and players. So, while exchanging barbs with Gianluca Prestianni, Vini Jr reported a racial insult from the Argentine to referee Benoît Bastien, who activated the anti-racism protocol and stopped the match for ten minutes. Shortly afterward, Real Madrid formally filed a complaint with UEFA, submitting the evidence.

What did Prestianni say about Vini Jr’s accusations?

During the proceedings, Prestianni admitted using the term “maricón”, but denied the racial insult “mono” reported by Vinícius Júnior. Despite denying racism, UEFA used the confession of the homophobic insult to classify the Argentine’s actions as “discriminatory conduct”.

Did Prestianni receive a punishment from UEFA?

Prestianni missed the second match against Real Madrid after being provisionally punished by UEFA. In addition, FIFA handed the player a six-match suspension. Because of that ruling, the forward ended up being left out of Argentina’s final squad for the 2026 World Cup.

What was Wallace Yan’s celebration like?

Wallace Yan’s goal came in the 23rd minute of the second half, after a cross from Samuel Lino. Wearing the number 64 shirt, he got ahead of his marker and scored the goal that gave Flamengo the win. Then, in celebration, the forward ran to the corner flag and repeated Vini Jr’s celebration, ‘dancing’ on the pitch.

Was Prestianni in the starting lineup for Flamengo vs Benfica?

No! Coach Marco Silva started the friendly against Flamengo with Prestianni on the bench this Saturday (11). Even so, the Argentine came on as early as the 30th minute of the first half. The forward, who even hit the post in the second half, was unable to find the net against Mengão.

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