Crime-ridden Brazilian city honors local boy Vinicius Jr.

By MAURICIO SAVARESE
AP Sports Writer

SAO GONCALO, Brazil (AP) — Vinicius Jr. was still a teenager when he took his first winners’ medal to his hometown outside Rio de Janeiro. A place where drug gangs and vigilantes fight for control. The now 22-year-old Real Madrid winger is a key figure for Brazil’s national team and his old neighbors in Sao Gonçalo are hoping to soon get another visit from the once quiet boy who used to play soccer next to a highway despite the danger. They want to parade him through the city with a World Cup winners’ medal around his neck.