Brazil’s Neymar blues
The Colombian player widely expected to end Brazil’s chances of lifting a World Cup at home was James Rodriguez, the sparkling talent who had accumulated the highest tally of goals so far at this year’s competition. Instead it was their defender Juan Zuniga who
Brazil's Neymar (bottom) is fouled by Colombia's Camilo Zuniga during their 2014 World Cup quarter-finals at the Castelao arena in Fortaleza July 4, 2014. REUTERS
ingloriously achieved this, ramming his knee into the back of the Selecao’s superstar striker Neymar to, if not completely halt, then mightily hurt the title aspirations of the host nation.
Visibly in pain, Neymar was stretchered off the field towards the end of Brazil’s 2-1 win over Colombia yesterday with what X-rays later revealed to be a fractured vertebrae. His suffering is likely to reverberate throughout the whole of Brazil as the country contemplates a collision with a rampant German unit in the semi-finals of the tournament.
Making things harder for the Brazilians will be the absence of their skipper, Thiago Silva, who will miss the fixture after picking up his second yellow card of the tournament. In fact it is hard to linger on the stouthearted defense and fearless attack it presented a Colombian team which had steamrolled all before it without being distracted by the adversity which lies ahead.
Throughout this tournament the Brazilians have argued that their team does not revolve around one player, well now they have the chance to spectacularly prove this assertion, although they most certainly would not have wanted to do it this way. Nevertheless, they still do have quality up front, with the likes of Hulk, Fred and Maicon spearheading the attack and several creative midfielders in the mix. However, a country famed for its deep spiritual belief will need a miracle against Germany if it is to progress to the second football world cup finals on its home soil.
For Germany, their entrance into the semi-finals was a largely uncomplicated affair with a single goal and tight defence ensuring their progress against a French team which can be proud of its work at this World Cup. Even when Germany is not scoring they do not allow their opponents to do so and, facing a weakened Brazil, they will be hoping to extend their fantastic run of form at football’s global feast.
Separately, with the departure of Neymar, Lionel Messi is likely to receive even more attention than he already has. If he can lift Argentina beyond Belgium and into a semi-final with either the Netherlands or Costa Rica, then he most certainly would have vindicated himself in the eyes of all those who question his international pedigree.
However, earlier in the week, during Argentina’s 1-0 win against Switzerland, Messi could not get himself on the scorers’ list, although not for want of trying, in a cagey encounter that spilled over into extra time. This follows a trend which has developed during the latter
Germany's goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (C) is watched by Germany's midfielder Sami Khedira (L) and Germany's defender Benedikt Hoewedes (R) as he makes a save during the quarter-final football match between France and Germany at The Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on July 4, 2014,during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. AFP
half of the tournament, with the goal deluge of the opening weeks rapidly drying up, and being replaced by impenetrable goalkeeping, frugal defense and offensive profligacy which yielded late goals (occasionally none) during regular time.
Costa Rica needed penalties to get past Greece after things were deadlocked at 1-1 and the Germans too needed extra time to break Algerian hearts with a 2-1 win, with Algeria striking right at the end of the game after playing strong throughout.
Even the mighty Dutchmen were held without a goal for nearly 90 minutes before they struck twice to send home a Mexican team which almost seemed destined to make it out of the last 16. The same happened with France in their 2-0 win over Nigeria.
However, there is more to football than goals, particularly in the concluding stages of the World Cup where one team must go through. So regardless of scoring numbers, expect the drama in Brazil to continue right until the final game of the competition.