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Vinicius Junior hoping for World Cup spot with Brazil

CARL DE SOUZA / AFP / Getty

Brazil manager Tite has a pretty good idea of the 23 players he'll be calling up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and he's already named over half of the team. So, with a little more than a handful of spots remaining, many hopeful players have their fingers crossed.

Among them is 17-year-old Flamengo phenom Vinicius Junior, a forward who's already been all but signed by Real Madrid for an astounding €45-million fee. And along with his much-anticipated move to Spain, Vinicius has his sights set on a trip to Russia.

"I dream of going (to the World Cup)," he told Globo, as quoted by ESPN FC. "Recently I spoke with Ronaldinho and he told me that they always take a young player. He told me to always remain focused. So that if the opportunity presents itself, I would be prepared. I keep this in my thoughts, you know, because he is Ronaldinho.

"I have always admired him a lot. He is the idol of all of us who love football. I have the dream of one day wearing the shirt of Brazil's Selecao. I don't know whether that will be this year or next, but I am evolving every day with Flamengo so that I can reach the moment when I can represent Brazil."

Ronaldinho himself was once one of those young players, as he was called up to Brazil for the 2002 World Cup as a 22-year-old, the second-youngest player on the team next to 20-year-old Kaka.

At only 17, Vinicius still has a few years to make up before reaching that age range, and may miss out on the World Cup in a similar fashion to Neymar, who was controversially left out of the 2010 squad when he was 18 years old.

The last teenager to feature for Brazil in the World Cup was "O Fenomeno" Ronaldo, who was named to the 1994 World Cup team when he was just 17 years old himself.

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