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T HE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL EDITION MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2019 | 13
NON SEQUITUR PEANUTS
GARFIELD
KENKEN
Answers to Previous Puzzles
WIZARD of ID
DOONESBURY CLASSIC 1993
CALVIN AND HOBBES
DILBERT
Created by Peter Ritmeester/Presented by Will Shortz
SUDOKU No. 0508
Fill the grid so
that every row,
column 3x3 box
and shaded 3x
box contains
each of the
numbers
1 to 9 exactly
once.
Fill the grids with digits so as not
to repeat a digit in any row or
column, and so that the digits
within each heavily outlined box
will produce the target number
shown, by using addition,
subtraction, multiplication or
division, as indicated in the box.
A 4x4 grid will use the digits
1-4. A 6x6 grid will use 1-6.
For solving tips and more KenKen
puzzles: http://www.nytimes.com/
kenken. For Feedback: nytimes@
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For solving tips
and more puzzles:
http://www.nytimes.com/
sudoku
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(c) PZZL.com Distributed by The New York Times syndicate
Solution No. 0308 CROSSWORD | Edited by Will Shortz
Across
1 Group in a play
5 Plasterwork backing
9 Bracelet securer
14 Arthur with a stadium
named after him
15 Feeling fluish, in a way
16 “___ me” (“Go along
with it”)
17 ___ the Man (old
baseball nickname)
18 Be overrun (with)
19 “E” on a gas gauge
20 Pre-snap powwow
22 Garden munchkin
24 “How was ___ know?”
25 2012 Best Picture
winner set in Iran
27 Kind of toy that moves
when you turn a key
31 Semiaquatic
salamanders
33 Flowers on trellises
35 Bill in a tip jar
36 Slangy “sweetheart”
37 Horace, as a poet
38 Barrister’s headgear
39 Scrub vigorously
41 Manipulate
42 Littlest ones in litters
44 Contagious viral
infection
45 Cross ___ with
47 Side-to-side nautical
movement
48 Plural “is”
49 First appearance, as
of symptoms
50 Toronto N.H.L. team,
for short
53 Common ankle injury
55 Biggest bear in
“Goldilocks and the
Three Bears”
57 “V for Vendetta” actor
Stephen
58 Grind, as teeth
60 Withstands
62 Gemstone measure
65 Chopped down
67 3:1 or 4:1, e.g.
68 Superior beef grade
69 They’re mined and
refined
70 Large, scholarly book
71 “For ___ waves of
grain” (line in “America
the Beautiful”)
72 Water swirl
73 Elderly
Down
1 Redeem, as a savings
bond
2 Uncommonly
perceptive
3 Air-punching pugilist
4 Manage, as a bar
5 “Ciao”
6 Unreturned tennis
serve
7 2006 Matt Damon spy
film
8 Song sung on Sunday
9 Place with beakers
and Bunsen burners
10 Measure of light’s
brightness
11 Electric guitar
accessory
12 Drunkard
13 Jimmy (open)
21 Lecturer’s implement
with
a light at the
end
23 Is indebted to
26 Fills, as tile joints
28 Popular yoga pose ...
or a literal hint to the
ends of 3-, 7-, 9- and
21-Down
29 The “U” in I.C.U.
30 Cribbage
scorekeepers
32 Letter after sigma
34 Nap south of the
border
39 Pampering places
40 Bus. concern
43 Persian Gulf country,
for short
46 Actress Kendrick
51 What “woof” or
“meow” may mean
52 Talked back to with
’tude
54 Best effort, informally
56 Colorful flower with a
“face”
59 Pump or oxford
61 Smidgen
62 Helper during taxing
times, for short?
63 Triceps location
64 Poke fun at
66 Marry
PUZZLE BY TRACY GRAY
Solution to Aug 3 Puzzle
COWTOWNSALADA
OPERAHATCRIMEA
MILEHIGHOCTAVO
BULKUPEMTSZIN
AMOSSITATROLL
TSKCANESCONDI
POWERSTATION
SAMESEXMARRIAGE
SMOKEDCIGARS
MEDOCENEMYECO
ISEETSARSSNOW
NILVASTTOUSLE
NOIRONOPOSSUMS
OWNINGRAPSHEET
WAGONSISAIDSO
12345678910111213
14 15 16
17 18 19
20 21 2223
24 2526 27 282930
31 32 3334 35
36 37 38
3940 41 4243
44 4546 47
48 49 50 5152
53 54 5556 57
58 59 6061
626364 6566 67
68 69 70
71 72 73
sports
With two diamond studs sparkling in his
ears, Vinícius José Paixão de Oliveira
Júnior strolled through the front door of
the gated villa he calls home after a day
of training at Real Madrid.
Within minutes, he and his two closest
friends from Brazil had fired up the
FIFA video game in the living room to
begin a daily ritual: the usual marathon
session that seems to only pause for
meal times.
“What a header,” one of the friends
yelled as the digitized version of Viní-
cius leapt into the air and buried a shot
past the goalkeeper. Vinícius, 19, raised
his head from the massage table to see
the action unfold on a 65-inch television,
and then let his attention drift back to
his phone as his personal physiothera-
pist continued to work on his legs.
This villa, in an exclusive Madrid
neighborhood, has the air of a teenage
boy’s paradise. In addition to its enor-
mous television, there are electric scoot-
ers, a driving seat for a motor racing
game and table tennis and pool tables.
The items are there to distract as much
as entertain: Vinícius’s status as the
next great star of Real Madrid means he
rarely ventures out in public anymore.
There are strict rules for his friends, too.
No nights out when Vinícius is at home.
“It’s not fair if we go out and he has to
stay in,” said one of them, Luiz Felipe
Menegate. “We know we’re here for him
to succeed.”
“Just like always,” Vinícius said with a
grin.
Even if he were not one of the sport’s
brightest young prospects, Vinícius
probably would be spending his days
talking soccer in the company of
Menegate and another boyhood friend,
Wesley Menezes, or digging into plates
of black beans, rice and sirloin prepared
by a favorite aunt. But in so many other
ways — not just the toy-filled villa, but
the multimillion-dollar salary and the
attention and expectation that come
with being one of the most valuable
teenagers on earth — Vinícius Júnior
now inhabits an entirely new world.
This spring, he and his team invited
The New York Times into that world, of-
fering a rare glimpse into the care and
the planning and, yes, the comforts that
can help a talented young player navi-
gate the warp-speed transformation
from prospect to pro.
In Vinícius’s case, the change of venue
alone has been remarkable.
Only a few years ago, Vinícius, a skill-
ful and speedy wing, was living in a
cramped room with more than a half-
dozen family members in a Rio de Janei-
ro municipality notorious for violent
crime and crippling poverty. Then, in
May 2017, Real Madrid agreed to pay the
Rio de Janeiro club Flamengo 45 million
euros ( just over $50 million) for the
rights to the teenage forward. In an in-
stant, before he had kicked a ball as a
professional, Vinícius became the most
expensive teenage export in Brazilian
soccer history.
The record-breaking fee made Viní-
cius, then only 16, an instant millionaire.
But it also kick-started the effort to
make his journey from Rio to Europe as
seamless as possible. That is why
Menegate and Menezes are here, along
with his aunt and nearly a dozen other
family members, all of them living in-
side a two-story villa.
It is the dream of every young Brazil-
ian boy who plays soccer to land with a
club like Real Madrid, a team of super-
stars that has won more international ti-
tles than any other club. Vinícius’s jour-
ney, though, represents something far
different than the usual favela-to-riches
story: It also captures the fevered, high-
risk game Real Madrid plays to try to
maintain its excellence, the ease with
which top clubs can bid up the value
(and the expectations) for an unproven
player, and one family’s efforts to try to
maintain just the slightest bit of nor-
malcy amid that storm.
“I don’t really feel pressure,” Vinícius
said in April. “I just focus on enjoying
myself on the field.”
Much of that is because of what is in
place inside the villa, away from the pry-
ing eyes of fans and reporters, and a uni-
verse removed from his childhood.
Even by the standards of São
Gonçalo, the bayside city of 330,
near Rio that is blighted by poverty and
crime, the Paixão de Oliveira family had
it hard. Vinícius’s father had to work in a
neighboring state to support his family,
installing wiring for cable and internet
firms. Often that was not enough.
When he was 6, Vinícius, who accord-
ing to family members showed glimpses
of talent soon after learning to walk,
signed up for soccer training with a local
school run by Carlos Eduardo Abrantes,
known as Cacau. The school is one of
scores affiliated with Flamengo, and
that meant Cacau also shared in the
riches of Vinícius’s transfer to Madrid.
“It was a good amount,” he said, without
revealing an exact figure.
By the time he was 14, Vinícius’s rare
talent was clear. He was one of the best
players in Rio, and soon a star on na-
tional teams for his age group. It was
then that TFM, one of Brazil’s soccer
agencies, started to manage his career,
taking the place of a previous agent and
providing support that allowed his fa-
ther to return home to his family and fo-
cus on Vinícius’ ascent.
TFM bet on his promise and started
investing in Vinícius, persuading the
family to let it represent the talented
youngster. The informal arrangement
carried risks for the firm because in
Brazil players cannot sign with agents
until they are 18.
“It is a gentleman’s agreement, and
many times that agreement isn’t re-
spected by the parents, and he’s free to
change his mind,” said Frederico Pena,
the agent who runs TFM.
TFM helped Vinícius’ family rent an
apartment closer to Flamengo’s train-
ing center and paid for him to attend two
high-performance facilities in the
United States used by professional
sports franchises. Such was the speed of
Vinícius’ rise that a planned third visit
had to be scrapped: He had been pro-
moted to Flamengo’s first team.
When Vinícius was honored as the
best player and top scorer for Brazil’s
championship team at a South Ameri-
can under-17 championship in early
2017, the performance led to one of the
most remarkable transfer battles in re-
cent soccer history. Real Madrid and
Barcelona, bitter rivals on and off the
field in Spain, each decided it wanted
Vinícius — a teenager who still had not
made his professional debut for Fla-
mengo — at almost any price.
The transition to Europe has not al-
ways been easy. The battle for a regular
place in the Real Madrid lineup is not for
the meek, and even the biggest signings
and brightest prospects quickly fall out
of favor with fans and the news media.
But at least that quest is within Vinícius
Júnior’s control; the friends and family
members who have uprooted their lives
to support him already have surren-
dered part of their own identities to help
him flourish. Menegate acknowledged
as much one afternoon as he waited for
his friend to return from training.
“I know that we are not just Menegate
and Wesley anymore because people
now just see us as the two guys who live
with Vinícius,” he said.
Still, the attempts at normalcy contin-
ue. His aunt Vanessa, who is part of the
entourage, cooks every meal for the
household, and the menu rarely
changes: rice, beans and protein, sta-
ples of family meals throughout Brazil.
Most days, the family gathers at the ta-
ble a couple of hours before dinner; they
wash down slices of a cornmeal cake,
known as bolo de fubá, with sweet Bra-
zilian coffee as pagode music blares
from a living room speaker. Except for
the fact the group is sitting in a home
whose previous occupant was the chief
executive of one of Spain’s largest retail-
ers, the scene could be one set back in
the cramped apartment in São Gonçalo,
family and friends enjoying one anoth-
er’s company, discussing soccer and the
quality of Aunt Vanessa’s cooking.
The next day, Vinícius will return to
training. The club will focus on his devel-
opment. The agents will focus on his mil-
lions. The family members and the old
friends will offer their company. The
auntie will prepare more beans and rice.
“My dad says, ‘Just focus on the
field,’” Vinícius Júnior said. “ ‘You don’t
have any problem off the field.’”
The perks and pressure of being a prodigy
PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES
Vinícius Júnior playing for Real Madrid, left. He lives in a villa with childhood friends
Wesley Menezes, center, and Luiz Felipe Menegate, and about a dozen family members.
GIANFRANCO TRIPODO FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
MADRID
Old friends from Brazil
help $50 million teenager
settle in at Real Madrid
BY TARIQ PANJA
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