Why Vinicius Jr. didn't take Brazil penalty that Bruno Guimaraes had saved by Norway

20 hours ago 4

Vinicius Jr. stood at the penalty spot with the ball in his hands.

But once the VAR review confirmed a penalty for Brazil against Norway in the World Cup Round of 16, Vini handed the ball to Bruno Guimaraes.

Bruno did one of those stutter-step run-ups, went for the push to the right with his right foot, and had his shot saved.

The question, of course, was why the superstar Vini didn't take the spot kick.

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Why did Bruno take the penalty and not Vini?

This was likely the plan and not an in-the-moment decision, but there's no way to know for sure until someone is asked about it after the match.

In the moment, all that's clear is that Bruno was the one who earned the chance.

He takes free kicks often for his club team, Newcastle United, as well as for Brazil. He's well-regarded for his technical ability.

In his career, he was 3-for-3 on penalties, never having taken one for Brazi.

Vini is 13-for-19 in his career, including just 1-for-3 for Brazil.

For most of Neymar's career, he would've been Brazil's penalty taker. There hasn't been a lot of other opportunity in recent years.

Maybe that cost Brazil here.