NYTimes World Cup 2014_ Neymar's Injury Dampens Brazil's Win Over Colombia

4/7/2014 World Cup 2014: Neymar's Injury Dampens Brazil's Win Over Colombia - NYTimes.com

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Germany 1 , France 0: World Cup

2014: Germany Defeats France in

Quarterfinal Match JULY 4, 2014

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Nervously Ey e ColombiaJULY 3, 2014

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FORTALEZA, Brazil — It was an enormous win for Brazil, but it came at a

gigantic cost.

Brazil on Friday powered to an impressive 2-1 quarterfinal victory over

upstart Colombia at Estádio Castelão, setting off another round of raucous

nationwide partying. But the noise and jubilation proved short-lived, as it

was revealed after the game that Neymar — the country’s best player and

biggest star — would miss the rest of the World Cup after injuring his back in

the dying minutes of the hugely physical game.

The Brazilian team has had only one goal this summer: to win the country’s

sixth World Cup trophy while playing on home soil. The victory on Friday

was an important step, setting up a semifinal next Tuesday against the

powerful German squad.

Luiz Felipe Scolari, Brazil’s

coach, said he and his players

always expected Germany

would stand in their path to the

trophy. But the challenge

appeared to become much

steeper late Friday night as the

extent of Neymar’s injury was

revealed.

“He was crying out in pain,” Scolari said of

Neymar. “It won’t be easy for him to recover,

based on what the doctor told us and the pain

he’s in.”

Minutes after Scolari’s postgame news

conference, the team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar

said that Neymar had sustained a fractured

vertebra in his lower back. Lasmar said the

injury would not require surgery, but would

take three to four weeks to heal.

It was a huge blow to the team, the country

Juan Camilo Zúñiga’s knee

collided with Ney mar’s back

on the play that caused

Ney mar’s injury .

Manu Fernandez/Associated

Press



and the tournament. Neymar, 22, who plays

for Barcelona, has had his face plastered on

billboards and shown in television commercials since well before the

tournament. For such a young player, he was shouldering a huge amount of

responsibility.

But he had delivered on the hype. Neymar

scored four goals in the tournament, and he

provided the assist on Thiago Silva’s opening

goal in the seventh minute Friday night.

Brazil doubled its lead on David Luiz’s free

kick in the 69th minute, and held on after

James Rodríguez’s 80th-minute penalty

kick for Colombia.

It was a high-stakes game, and play grew

increasingly intense as the game wore on, with both Neymar and Rodríguez,

another 22-year-old attacking star, who finished the tournament with six

goals, taking several hard fouls. There were 54 fouls called in the game, the

highest total of any match in the tournament. Scolari acknowledged that

both teams probably played with too much physicality, but he said the

referee, Velasco Carballo, did not do enough to control the tenor of the game.

With about five minutes left to play, the Colombian defender Juan Camilo

Zúñiga went airborne on a loose ball and ended up driving his knee into the

lower back of Neymar, who immediately crumpled to the turf in pain.

Neymar’s teammates could be seen signaling to the bench for a substitution

as a stretcher was brought onto to the field. He was taken to a nearby

hospital, where a crowd of fans soon formed.

Colombia Coach José Pékerman said the physical play was the product of

two evenly matched teams playing a critical game.

“It seemed to me the same thing happened with both teams,” Pékerman

said. “We lost the fluidity to the game because of that friction and intensity.”

Scolari said he thought his team still had the capacity to win the tournament.

“There are seven steps, and we’ve already climbed five,” he said after

delivering the news about Neymar.

The injury dampened what had been a stirring night for the team. After a

deafening rendition of the Brazilian national anthem, there was hardly a

break in the noise as Brazil snatched the lead.

Interactive Graphic: T opT eam s’ Hopes Riding ona Single Play er

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/04/sports/world-cup-scoring-chances.html



RECENT COMMENTS

ATOM 26 minutes ago

To those of you complaining because the ref did notpenalize Colombia enough, what game were youwatching? Just to give an example,...

Peisinoe 26 minutes ago

Zuniga should catch a plane back to Colombia assoon as possible.

Mortiser 26 minutes ago

Awful news that Neymar is out, and on a dreadfulfoul that wasn't called. I am anxious to see whatBrazil will do now. My gut tells me that...

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Taking a corner kick from the

left side, Neymar bent a ball

over a crowd of players to the

far post. Silva, the team’s

Brazil’s Dav id Luiz, right, with

James Rodríguez of Colombia

after Brazil’s win. Luiz and

Rodríguez each scored a goal in

the game; Rodríguez’s goal in

the 80th minute was his sixth

of the tournament, the most

among all play ers.

Laurence Griffiths/Getty

Images

Colombia goalkeeper Dav id Ospina could not stop a

free kick by Dav id Luiz, which gav e Brazil a 2-0 lead

in the 69th minute of the quarterfinal game.

Hassan Ammar/Associated Press



captain, sprinted onto it

unmarked and pushed it over the line with his left knee, igniting wild

celebrations in the stands. (Silva will miss the semifinal, too, due to yellow-

card accumulation.)

The game carried on at a frantic pace as Brazil sent multilayered attacks

cascading toward Colombia’s defense. Luiz added the second goal on another

set piece in the 69th minute, pounding in a sensational free kick from 30

yards out. The ball barely underwent a full rotation on its scorching,

parabolic path, evading the reach of goalkeeper David Ospina and nestling

into the upper right portion of the net.

But the atmosphere grew nervous again in the 80th minute as Colombia cut

into the lead. Carlos Bacca won a penalty after getting wiped out by keeper

Júlio César on a one-on-one chance in front of goal. And Rodríguez stutter-

stepped and slipped the ensuing kick into the bottom left corner of the goal.

It led to a frantic finish, and a final whistle that was music to the fans’ ears.

They lingered to sing and cheer the players, who joined hands at midfield to

salute the different corners of the stadium. It was a moment of happiness

and another step on the way to their desired end point.

It would soon give way to a moment of despair.

Correction: July 4, 2014

An earlier version of this article misstated the name of the Colombian

defender who collided with Neymar. He is Juan Camilo Zúñiga, not Juan

Vuniga.

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NYTimes World Cup 2014_ Neymar's Injury Dampens Brazil's Win Over Colombia