Brazil and Barcelona attacker Raphinha has taken to social media on Friday evening, to jump to the defence of his teammate Neymar.
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This came upon the Paris Saint-Germain star being forced into a late departure from his country’s World Cup group stage opening day beating of Serbia.
After coming in for rough treatment on the part of Serbia’s players throughout proceedings, a blow to the ankle left Neymar in tears, and with swelling.
In turn, it was confirmed yesterday that the former Barcelona player has been ruled out of both of Brazil’s remaining group stage games.
The harsh nature of Serbia’s efforts to keep Neymar at bay, post-match, sparked huge debate, too. This came as many called for protection of one of world football’s most talented players.
Alongside such calls too arrived a wave of abuse directed towards the PSG star, with some having remarkably gone as far as to suggest that Neymar’s behaviour on the pitch means he deserved to pick up an injury.
Taking to the Stories section of his Instagram account, the summer arrival at Barcelona, Raphinha chose to take aim at his own country’s fan base.
In fact, in comments which are no doubt set to spark huge controversy across Brazil, Raphinha went as far as to claim that the Selecao, as a collective, ‘do not deserve’ the talents of Neymar.
He said: “The Argentina fans treat Messi like a god. The Portugal fans treat CR7 like a king. Brazil Fans encourage Ney to break his leg. The biggest mistake in Ney’s career is being born in Brazil, this country does not deserve his talent.”
