Press reaction: Brazil mourn Neymar loss while Colombia rail at ‘injustice’
Newspapers in Brazil and Colombia were united in condemnation for the Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo after their foul-strewn quarter‑final, as the hosts mourned the back injury that has ruled the home favourite Neymar out of the remainder of the tournament.
Images of Brazil’s stricken star filled almost every front page in the host nation, sometimes accompanied by one of the celebrating David Luiz, scorer of the winning goal. Diário Catarinense created a front page with mastheads at both top and bottom, with a picture of David Luiz filling one half accompanied by the single word alegria – happiness – while when turned upside down a picture of Neymar had the word Tristeza – sadness.
“The pain that stopped our joy,” read the headline in the Correio Braziliense. “Clattered by the knee of the Colombian right-back Juan Zúñiga, the best Brazilian attacker is out of the World Cup. A wave of sadness has invaded the country. For the first time under Felipão’s control the Seleção will play without its star in the No10 shirt, against the strongest team in this tournament: Germany. In 1962 Brazil was deprived of Pelé’s genius, also through injury, but won the title. It is time to repeat the feat.”
In the Folha de São Paulo, the columnist Juca Kfouri wrote: “Now the Germans are not only favourites, they are a sure thing. The Brazilian side is the underdog confronting mission impossible. Fans will be hoping for a miracle.”
“Cowardice deprives the World Cup of Neymar,” read the headline in the Rio newspaper Extra. “A scream of joy, a deep pain,” wrote Correio, alongside pictures of both David Luiz and Neymar, adding “Felipão is furious with the referee, who did not even show a yellow card.” Horaincluded, inset into a large image of a writhing Neymar, the image of Zúñiga, with the words “Foi ele!” – it was him!
The Colombian regional newspaper Diario del Magdalena had perhaps the hardest-hitting front page however, their headline reading “Arbitro Español: hijo de la gran puta madre que te parió” (Spanish referee, son of a massive whore, the mother who bore you). “The decision to disallow a legitimate goal, scored by Mario Yepes, and to give countless fouls against Colombia decided the match for the Brazilians,” they wrote.
Another Colombian newspaper, Q’hubo, led their front page with the single word: “Injusticia!” Using a picture of a tearful James Rodríguez – “his face reflecting the injustice which had befallen him” – they also complained about the disallowed goal, writing that Colombia lost “at the hands of the referee and a Brazil side that felt their own pain”.
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