Wallace Yan’s celebration hit Benfica’s sore spot, honoured 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 last friendly of the 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 to the corner flag and ‘danced,’ which infuriated Benfica fans and players. Then, while exchanging barbs with Gianluca Prestianni, Vini Jr reported a racial insult by 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 charge the Argentine with “discriminatory conduct.”

Was Prestianni punished by UEFA?

Prestianni missed the second leg against Real Madrid after being provisionally suspended by UEFA. In addition, FIFA handed the player a six-match ban. Because of that decision, 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 No. 64 shirt, he got in front of his marker and scored the goal that gave Flamengo the win. Then, during the celebration, the forward ran to the corner flag and repeated Vini Jr’s celebration, ‘dancing’ on the pitch.

Did Prestianni start in the Flamengo vs Benfica match?

No! Coach Marco Silva started Saturday’s (11) friendly against Flamengo with Prestianni on the bench. 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.