Vinicius Jr's magic minute lights up Copa America and wakes up Brazil

Vinicius Jr. showed why he is considered one of the greatest soccer players around.

In just one minute against Paraguay in a Group D matchup, the 23-year-old seemingly woke up the sleeping giant that is Brazil. About 34 minutes into the first half, the Real Madrid forward was trapped on the sideline by two Paraguayan defenders with no place to go.

Instead of panicking, Vinicius rainbow-flicked the ball past the two defenders and sprinted past them to get the ball. He then crossed the ball into the box, where, despite the ball being in prime position for a strike, a defender was able to get to it after one of Vinicius' teammates missed their attempted shot.

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Less than one minute later, Brazil continued to threaten the defense, with the Brazilian forward cutting through the defenders with ease. Vinicius then weaved past one more defender before blasting the ball just beneath goalkeeper Rodrigo Morinigo's arms to put Brazil on top 1-0.

Then just before halftime, Vinicius took advantage of a Paraguayan defensive miscue to fire in his second goal of the game to make 3-0 thanks to the stoppage time strike. Shortly before Vinicius' goal, Savio scored a goal, making it 2-0 at the time.

Despite finding themselves in a 3-0 hole, Paraguay did not give up, with Omar Alderete scoring in the 48th minute to make it a two-goal deficit. However, Lucas Paqueta's penalty in the 65th minute effectively put the game away from the Brazilians, who were in need of a statement win.

Heading into its matchup with Paraguay, Brazil was criticized for failing to score against Costa Rica in its opening game of the Copa America. After the game, Vinicius noted that their effort against Costa Rica needed to be better if they were to continue to show the world they were the standard bearer.

"We know we can improve, we have to improve," he said after the draw, per ESPN. "I also know what I can improve, evolve and do for our team." Brazil's manager Dorival Junior explained that Costa Rica's defense caused their initial game plan to go awry, which led to Vinicius being substituted for Endrick in the 71st minute.

"We tried with him [Vinícius] on the wing and we didn't succeed," the coach told reporters . "Then we put him inside and we couldn't find a way through either ... he was very well marked."

Additionally, Vinicius asked fans to be patient with the process, as the team was still getting to know each other. "New coach, new players, everything takes time," he added.

"Our fans want everything immediately done, but we're going little by little. In the next game, I'm sure we'll play much better because we now already understand what the competition will be like, what the pitch, what the referees will be like."

It appears the 23-year-old and the team were able to get on the same page rather quickly if Brazil's 4-1 trouncing is any evidence. Brazil's final group-stage game will be against Columbia on Tuesday.