Vitor Roque: Winning Hearts with Goals in Just One Month at Barça

“In the span of one month and amidst an adaptation period, Vitor Roque has already captured the hearts of Culés. Despite initial skepticism from some doubters regarding the Brazilian forward’s quality, who entered cautiously due to a two-month injury and almost three weeks of vacation, Tigrinho has already endeared himself to Barça fans. With only 93 minutes played in LaLiga and yet to start a match, Vitor Roque has managed to score two goals. The first, marking his debut as a scorer for Barça against Osasuna last Wednesday, securing three points for the team. The second came this Saturday at Mendizorroza, sealing a 1-3 victory against Alavés just before Martínez Munuera unjustly issued a red card with a double yellow.

Both at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Montjuïc and during the trip to Vitoria, the members of the FC Barcelona Grada d’Animació sang a song for Vitor Roque, creating a new version of the ‘hit’ that Culés sang for Patrick Kluivert in the late ’90s and early 2000s at Camp Nou. From “Que Patrick Kluivert marque un gol, que Patrick Kluivert marque un gol” (‘May Patrick Kluivert score a goal, may Patrick Kluivert score a goal’), it has now evolved into “Que Vitor Roque marque un gol, que Vitor Roque marque un gol” (‘May Vitor Roque score a goal, may Vitor Roque score a goal’). The effect couldn’t be more positive, as the Brazilian has scored two goals in the last two consecutive matches, despite playing for only short periods. In Vitoria, he could only play for 13 minutes as Martínez Munuera decided to give him a double yellow card, the second one when the Madridista Rafa Marín, on loan at Alavés, went into the Brazilian with both feet forward and Tigrinho leapt to avoid contact.”