The semi-finals pairing of the ongoing 2014 FIFA World Cup has been completed with Argentina and Netherland booking their place in the last four.
An eighth-minute half-volley from Napoli forward Gonzalo Higuain proved enough to earned Argentina semi-finals slot at the expense of Belgium side, Netherlands have to wait for the penalty shootout to beat stubborn Costa-Rica side 4-3.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s bid to host and win and make a record sixth time has suffered a devastating blow after the star striker, Neymar was ruled out of the rest of the tournament after fracturing a bone in his back during the quarter-final victory against Colombia.
The Barcelona striker was taken off the pitch on a stretcher after taking a knee to the back from the Colombia defender Juan Zuniga late in the game.
He was taken to a private clinic in Fortaleza – “crying out in pain”, according to the Brazil manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari, – where an X-ray revealed he had fractured one of his vertebrae.
Rodrigo Lasmar, the Brazil team doctor, said: “This news is not easy but he will not be available for the rest of the World Cup. Neymar has a broken vertebra. He will be out for four to six weeks.”
Zuniga defended the challenge, claiming he did not deliberately try to hurt Brazil’s talisman.
“It was a normal move” he said. “I never meant to hurt a player. I was on the field, playing for the shirt from my country, not without the intent to injure. I was just defending my shirt.”
Thiago Silva and David Luiz had scored the goals to set up a semi-final against Germany in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday, but Neymar’s injury represents a grievous setback given his importance to the team and the absence of a ready-made replacement. He has been one of the stars of the tournament and a player the Brazil public regard as their best hope of victory.
Brazil will also have to do without their captain, Thiago Silva against Germany, ruled out after his second yellow card of the tournament, but it is the news about Neymar that will raise the most doubts about whether Scolari’s team have enough quality to go all the way. And an X-ray shown on Brazilian TV reveals the striker suffered a clean break of his vertebra. Tributes poured in for the World Cup’s poster boy, with the likes of Mesut Ozil, Lionel Messi and Mario Balotelli wishing the striker well. Neymar’s Barcelona team-mate Messi wrote on his Facebook page: ‘Neymar, I hope you recover very soon friend!’
He was carried off the field in tears on a stretcher and ‘screamed in pain in the dressing room’ before being taken to the hospital.
According to report, crowds of Brazilian fans swelled outside the Sao Carlos Hospital in Fortaleza as news filtered through that their hero had been taken there. Agency report
