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Real Madrid winger Vinícius Júnior addressed 13-year-old Zaher directly in a video recorded after the BBC shared the boy’s story with the club, according to a report published by the broadcaster. The Brazilian player, who has emerged as a prominent voice against racism in the sport, began by acknowledging the hardships Zaher endured in recent months and praising him as a hard-working individual. Vinícius Júnior expressed hope that the teenager would make effective use of his new prosthetic legs, resume playing football and discover happiness, stating that he deserved such outcomes.
In the message Vinícius Júnior extended an invitation for Zaher to join him for a full day at a Real Madrid fixture, Infobae reported on the same date. Zaher watched the recording during a reunion in Cairo and reacted by briefly stepping out of the room before returning dressed in a new Vinícius Júnior shirt. The boy then asked intermediaries to convey that he loved the player and felt greatly uplifted by the words.
Zaher lost both legs in a drone strike that occurred in 2024 while he and his mother Habibah sold lentils on the streets of Khartoum to survive as fighting intensified between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, BBC News detailed. Habibah recounted seeing her son bleeding extensively after the attack and questioning the decision to amputate both limbs. The family faced severe obstacles leaving Sudan because they lacked passports and their birth certificates had been destroyed during the conflict.
A fundraising campaign assisted by Dana Latif, a British lawyer of Sudanese origin, collected around 45,000 pounds after the BBC’s initial coverage in 2025, according to UA News. Those funds enabled Zaher and Habibah to reach Cairo for medical care despite the documentation barriers. The boy then underwent further surgery, received prosthetic legs and spent months in physiotherapy combined with psychological support.
Zaher has since returned to Sudan where he walks using the prosthetics and has begun kicking a football once more, Punch NG reported. Habibah observed that eliciting a smile from her son had previously been almost impossible yet he now laughs frequently and displays strong self-confidence. The teenager’s recovery unfolded against the backdrop of Sudan’s civil war that began in 2023 and has produced extensive civilian casualties from strikes in the capital.
Vinícius Júnior responded to the outreach coordinated through Real Madrid by creating the personalized Arabic-language video, multiple outlets including Infobae confirmed. The 25-year-old footballer has previously used his platform to address discrimination faced by Black players in La Liga. Zaher expressed his wish to secure a visa that would allow him to accept the invitation and travel to Spain for the proposed match day.
