Contribution by @cfcasa
Brazil v Colombia. Yet again another thrilling World Cup match but this time surrounded by controversy.
Star player of the Brazilian national team Neymar has been ruled out of the rest of the World Cup with a broken vertebra because Colombia’s Juan Camilo Zuniga made a slightly harsh tackle on the young striker.
That challenge has been branded evil and violent by Brazil legend Ronaldo.
Am I missing something here? Throughout that game, the Brazilians didn’t give a second thought when they were kicking absolute lumps out of Colombia playmaker James Rodriguez.
The players shouldn’t be to blame one bit. The blame lies purely with the referee. It was he who allowed tackles to go unpunished throughout the game and did not book players when he should have done.
To hear and read what people have said about Neymar being ruled out of the World Cup is to be honest, embarrassing. Great player that he is, too much fuss has been made about the fact he will now be absent for the remaining games.
It’s never nice to see a player sidelined during a major tournament, especially when you’re a neutral football fan wanting all the best players to be on show.
But, Neymar is just another player. It’s not Zuniga’s fault that 200 million people are counting on the Barcelona man to bring home the World Cup. The way the Brazilians have gone about their business must be music to the Germans’ ears.
The Brazil national team have huge pressure on their shoulders. Their best player is out and you could say that psychologically, they could already be defeated.
It would be incredible if Brazil won the World Cup especially as they are the hosts, but they don’t have a divine right to win this competition. If they want to mix it and put in hard challenges, then they must accept it back.
For many people Brazil’s star performer being ruled out is a travesty. For me on the other hand, it just sums up football.
It’s a very cruel and unforgiving sport where things normally comes back to bite you. Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men have been bitten where it hurts.
Asa Clark
Twitter: @cfcasa
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