Neymar's World Cup over and soon Brazil's will be too
Sports View 5 July 2014
Brazil star Neymar has been ruled out of the rest of the 2014 World Cup after fracturing a bone in his back during their 2-1 quarter-final win over Colombia on Friday.
The Barcelona star who has 4 goals in this summer's tournament before Colombia right-back Juan Zuñiga put his knee into the back of the Brazilian late on during their elimination from the tournament.
Luiz Felipe Scolari's side took an early lead through Thiago Silva scoring from close range after Neymar's corner was poor defending inside 7 minutes.
Brazil's other centre-back, David Luiz made it 2-0 midway through the second half with a stunning free kick.
The hosts had kept the in-form Colombia at bay for the majority of the match with a lot of help in kicking and fouling playmaker James Rodríguez. The statistics say the AS Monaco player was fouled on six occasions with only Juan Cuadrado the only player able to match that tally from either side.
No Brazilian received a card for any of the fouls on Rodríguez, some of them blatant. Juan Zuñiga himself did not receive a card for his foul on Neymar which saw the Barcelona star leaving the field on a stretcher.
The Spanish officials looked off the pace all night, as did the Argentinian assistants in the first semi-final on Friday between Germany and France. These are officials from two of the top footballing countries in the world.
Without Neymar and with Thiago Silva suspended for their semi-final match, Germany are all-but-certain to progress to the final of the 2014 World Cup in my mind. The reliable Premiership Tips have already tipped Joachim Löw's side at 2/1 to win in 90 minutes.
Brazil will be playing in the third-place playoff match, just like hosts Germany did in 2006 and co-hosts South Korea in 2002…
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