Brazilian forward Neymar has been ruled out of the remainder of the World Cup after picking up a back injury during Brazil’s 2-1 win over Colombia on Friday evening. Neymar suffered what the Brazilian team doctor believed to be a fractured vertebra in his back after being clattered into by Colombia’s Juan Zuniga late on in the game. Neymar is Brazil’s top scorer at the tournament with four goals in five appearances, but he will miss the semi-final clash with Germany as well as the final, should Brazil make it there. Watch the match highlights (Brazil vs Colombia) at the end of this post
Team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar does not believe the injury is too serious, but his recovery time will be at least a couple of weeks. He told Brazil’s SportTV: “Unfortunately, he’s not going to be able to play. It’s not serious in the sense that it doesn’t need surgery, but he’ll need to immobilise it to recover.” Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was not pleased with the treatment of his star forward, believing teams were out to injure him in order to stop him affecting the game, whilst the perpetrators received no punishment. He said: “Neymar was going to be hunted. For three matches that has been happening. Not even a yellow card, nothing.
Brazil won their place in the semi-finals after a win over Colombia in Fortaleza, courtesy of goals in either half from centre-back pairing Thiago Silva and David Luiz. Silva will also miss the semi-final clash with Germany after picking up a second booking of the competition, meaning two of Brazil’s top stars will miss out.
What a pity! That was a disgraceful tackle. Watch the match highlights below
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