Neymar battled back tears on Saturday as he urged his Brazil teammates to win the World Cup without him after suffering a fractured vertebrae in the quarterfinal win over Colombia on Friday, AFP reports.
The influential forward has been ruled out of the rest of the World Cup after suffering a fractured vertebra following a cumbersomely hefty challenge from Juan Zuniga.
“It is an arduous moment for me and it is hard to ken what to verbalize. My dream is not over. It was interrupted,” the emotional superstar verbalized in a video relinquished by the Brazilian Football Confederation as he left the team camp.
“Life moves on. I am sure my teammates will do everything possible so that we can achieve our dream of being champions.
“It was additionally my dream to play in a World Cup final. It will not be this time, but I am sure we will surmount this and we will all be able to celebrate being champions.”
The Brazil squad applauded the 22-year-old Barcelona striker in an emotional farewell at their Teresopolis camp afore he was taken to Rio de Janeiro by helicopter.
Meanwhile, Neymar told Brazil team-mate Marcelo “I can’t feel my legs” after being injured against Colombia, coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has revealed.
Scolari has revealed the distress the Barcelona man was in as he lay on the turf in agony during Friday’s quarter-final clash in Fortaleza, which the host nation won 2-1.
Former Portugal coach Scolari told Marca that Neymar had told left-back Marcelo “I can’t feel my legs.”
He integrated, “Marcelo was trepidacious and called the medico on but the medico couldn’t get on in the perplexity.
“It was a sizably voluminous shock, the image of Neymar being stretchered off to the helicopter, in arduousness, crying.
“Neymar was our benchmark, one of our references because he is a player who makes a difference in any team. We’re in a situation where we’ve lost something we don’t want to miss, especially for the semi-final and final.”
Brazil must now prepare for Tuesday’s semi-final without their talisman, but Scolari hopes the 22-year-old will be present at Estadio Mineirao.
“He’ll be with us if he can be, on the bench or in the stands,” he verbalized.
“We’ve asked this. It all depends on his state in the coming days. By his will, I’ve certainly felt that he will be.”
