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Neymar’s exit from the World Cup due to a back injury left Brazilians shocked and angered, darkening the mood after the hosts’ 2-1 win over Colombia in the quarter-finals had sparked nationwide celebrations.
The loss of their star player has dented Brazil’s chances of winning a record-extending sixth World Cup, and first on home soil.
“Neymar fractures vertebra and is out of the Cup,” the country’s three main newspapers headlined in their online editions, completely overshadowing accounts of the thrilling 2-1 victory over Colombia.
The papers published blow-by-blow diagrams of the play in which Neymar was kneed in the back by Colombian defender Juan Zuñiga, burying coverage of the stunning free-kick by David Luiz that sealed Brazil’s victory.
“This is terrible news. The worst possible news. Neymar is so important to us,” said student Fabian Ruiz, 19, walking with friends down a street in Belo Horizonte, dressed in Brazil’s trademark canary yellow shirts. “Without him, the other players will have to fight more. It is going to be so difficult against Germany now.”
A large crowd of fans wearing Brazil shirts gathered outside the hotel in Fortaleza where Neymar was taken after the match. As he was being taken in on a stretcher, they chanted: ‘Força Neymar’, or, ‘Be strong Neymar’.
Social media was flooded with messages about the incident, with many Brazilians calling on world soccer’s governing body Fifa to punish Zuñiga in the same way Uruguay striker Luis Suarez was penalised for biting an Italian player.
One columnist went so far as to describe the challenge as a ‘savage attack’.
“Neymar out of the Cup because of cowardice and foul play by the Colombian player,” Fabricio Tavares, a Brazilian university professor, wrote on Facebook, echoing a common view heard on streets around Brazil.
Wishes for a speedy recovery poured in from all over, including Argentine playmaker Lionel Messi, Neymar’s team mate at Barcelona.
Even Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff used her Twitter account to call on Brazilians to unite around Neymar and the national team.
Argentine soccer great Diego Maradona also lamented Neymar’s injury, telling Venezuela-based Telesur TV network: “It concerns not only the Brazilian people but all of us who love football. It was his World Cup, in his country. He had great hopes.”
“It’s a normal action, I tried to shadow him,” Zuñiga told reporters. “I was not thinking of hurting him. I was defending my country’s colours.
“On the pitch I’m defending my shirt, my country, but I didn’t expect him to fracture a vertebra. He is a great talent for Brazil and for the world,” Zuñiga said.
Brazil captain Thiago Silva, who also missed the semi-final after being booked on Friday, refused to blame Zuñiga for the injury.
“Zuñiga is not a bad guy. But at that moment he wasn’t very prudent, he could have held up a bit, fouled in a different way.”
He said now was the time for Brazil players to come closer together and show even more solidarity on the pitch.
Some fans thought Brazil’s chances were over without Neymar.
“He is our best player. I don’t think we can win the Cup without him,” said a distraught-looking Eduardo Gomes, a 33-year-old fan, as he texted to find out more about Neymar’s injury.
Meanwhile, Neymar thanked fans for their support and said his team mates will do everything to keep his dream of winning the World Cup alive.
“My dream isn’t over. It was interrupted by a play but it continues,” Neymar said in a video released by the Brazilian Soccer Federation.
“I’m certain that my team mates will do everything possible so that my dream, which is to be a champion, comes true.
“My dream was also to play in a World Cup Final but this time it didn’t work out,” the 22-year-old said, his voice cracking with emotion.
Neymar was strapped to a stretcher on Saturday when he was loaded into a helicopter to fly from the team’s training base to his home on the coast near Sao Paulo.
