TOUR DE FRANCE
Brazil's players celebrate after
winning the quarter-final football match between Brazil and Colombia on
Friday, July 4. Brazil won the match 2-1 and advanced to the semifinals
of the tournament.
(CNN) -- Brazil is into the World Cup semifinals.
Brazilian star Neymar out of World Cup due to injury
July 5, 2014 -- Updated 0239 GMT (1039 HKT)
Brazil's players celebrate after
winning the quarter-final football match between Brazil and Colombia on
Friday, July 4. Brazil won the match 2-1 and advanced to the semifinals
of the tournament.
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World Cup: The best photos from July 4
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Argentinian star Lionel Messi says: "I hope you recover very soon, friend!"
- Neymar fractured a vertebra during Brazil's World Cup win, team doctor says
- He is out for World Cup semifinal and, if Brazil beats Germany, the final
- One Brazilian fan says, "It's like we have lost today"
But its brightest star is out.
Neymar fractured his
vertebra Friday night during his team's World Cup quarterfinal win over
Colombia and will miss the remainder of the football tournament, team
doctor Rodrigo Lasmar told reporters after the game.
The 22-year-old got kneed
in the back during a second-half collision with a Colombian player. He
rolled on the ground afterward, then cried in apparent pain while being
taken off the field on a stretcher.
"It's not serious in the
sense that it doesn't need surgery, but he'll need to immobilize it to
recover," said Lasmar, according to a story on the official website of FIFA, which runs the World Cup. "Unfortunately, he's not going to be able to play."
His loss is a huge blow
for Brazil, which entered the World Cup with steep expectations given
its traditional excellence in the sport -- its won more championships
than any other country -- and the fact it is hosting the tourney for the
first time since 1950.
As one woman dressed in a
Brazilian national team jersey told CNN on Friday night in Rio de
Janeiro, "It's like we have lost today."
"It's terrible, terrible. I'm so sad," she added regarding Neymar's injury. "But let's go on."
Many in Brazil still have a bitter taste from that World Cup decades ago, when the host lost in the finals to Uruguay.
It's not like the next
game would have been easy regardless. In the semifinal Tuesday, Brazil
will face Germany, which is undefeated in the tournament and handily
toppled France earlier Friday. The final game will take place July 13.
Neymar is not the only
one unavailable for the semifinal: Thiago Silva, the squad's captain,
will also miss the game after getting his second yellow card on Friday
-- which automatically rules him out of his next game.
Neymar has been the face
of his team in his native Brazil and around the world. He has scored
four goals, more than anyone else on his team and anyone in the
tournament besides Colombia's James Rodriguez. (Argentina's Lionel Messi
and Germany's Thomas Mueller also have four goals, like Neymar.)
A standout with the
Brazilian club Santos, Neymar moved last summer to one of the world's
richest, most successful clubs in FC Barcelona.
Messi, his teammate
there, was among those who offered their regrets that Neymar is out of
the World Cup and their best wishes for a speedy recovery.
The legendary Argentinian posted Friday night on his Facebook page: "Neymar, I hope you recover very soon, friend!"
CNN's Harry Reekie, Fred Pleitgen and Mayra Cuevas contributed to this report.
Brazil's relief at overcoming South American rival Colombia and reaching
the World Cup semifinals is tempered by an injury to star striker
Neymar, who is a major doubt for the Germany clash.
World Cup: Neymar injury mars Brazil's tense Colombia victory
July 4, 2014 -- Updated 2310 GMT (0710 HKT)
Brazil's players celebrate after
winning the quarter-final football match between Brazil and Colombia on
Friday, July 4. Brazil won the match 2-1 and advanced to the semifinals
of the tournament.
HIDE CAPTION
World Cup: The best photos from July 4
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Editor's note: How are you celebrating the World Cup? Join the global conversation on CNN Facebook Pulse
(CNN) -- There were goals, there was choreographed
dancing, there were moments of great footballing beauty, but Colombia --
one of the teams to excite most at this thrilling World Cup finals --
is going home after Friday's quarterfinal defeat at the hands of Brazil
in Fortaleza.
Strikes from the
center-back pairing of captain Thiago Silva and David Luiz put Brazil
into an unassailable lead and, despite a late penalty by James
Rodriguez, the tournament host held on to win 2-1.
There was concern,
however, for Brazil's star striker Neymar, who was stretchered off in
what seemed like considerable pain in the game's closing moments.
The result marks the
first time Brazil has reached the semifinal stage since winning the
title in Japan and South Korea in 2002, and sets up an intriguing clash
against Germany on Tuesday -- a repeat of that year's final.
"I think Neymar won't be
able to play," coach Luiz Felipe Scolari told reporters after the game.
"If we are able to beat Germany it might be he can play in the final.
"He has been sent to a
private clinic for a serious of exams as he was kneed on his lower back
and was crying out with pain. I can guarantee it won't be easy for him
to recover based on what the doctor told us and the pain he is in."
Germany overcame France in the day's earlier quarterfinal in Rio de Janeiro thanks to an early goal from defender Mats Hummels.
In the sweaty evening heat of the Estadio Castelao, however, it was another pair of defenders who were the unlikely heroes.
Silva opened the scoring
after seven minutes, tucking home a Neymar corner with his knee, and the
Paris Saint-Germain star was then in thick of it once more at the other
end moments later, blocking a shot from Juan Cuadrado.
Silva was criticized
heavily after apparently refusing to take the sixth penalty in Brazil's
round of 16 shootout victory over Chile last Saturday.
He was all action here, however. Marshaling the back line and flying into tackles when required.
But a yellow card midway through the second half means he will be suspended and miss the semifinal.
The Colombia players
composed themselves as the first half progressed, coming more into the
game despite the rough-house treatment handed out to star player James
Rodriguez.
On at least four occasions the Monaco star was subject to the stray boot of Brazil's midfield enforcer Fernandinho.
Still, the home team continued to have the better chances.
Hulk and Fred came close
with a snap-shot that Colombia keeper David Ospina palmed away and a
header that flashed over respectively.
The second half
commenced at a far slower pace and there was little of note until Silva
was booked for blocking a kick out from Ospina.
Colombia did have the
ball in the net after 66 minutes as Mario Yepes bundled the ball over
the line after a scramble in the Brazilian box. But a linesman's offside
flag cut short the nascent celebrations.
Moments later there was a goal, although it was to come at the other end.
Hulk was fouled by
Rodriguez 35 yards from goal and Luiz stepped up to crash a spectacular
free-kick beyond the despairing Ospina.
It was a remarkable strike that dipped and swerved as it arrowed into the top corner of the net.
There seemed no way back
for Colombia now. But "Los Cafeteros" were handed a lifeline with 12
minutes to go after goalkeeper Julio Cesar scythed down substitute
Carlos Bacca.
Rodriguez did the honors
from the penalty spot, sending Cesar the wrong way to score his sixth
goal of the tournament -- two more than closest rivals Neymar, Lionel
Messi and Thomas Muller.
All of a sudden, the
game was back on. Colombia pressed and threw caution to the wind with
Yepes playing as an auxiliary striker.
But when one final corner kick delivery drifted beyond Cesar's goal in the 95th minute there was time left for little else.
Scolari's side has now overcome the barrier that has proved too high at the last two World Cup tournaments.
However, Brazil has not
yet looked like a team certain to become world champion for a
record-extending sixth time -- as its demanding public expects --
despite having world-class talents like Neymar, Silva and Oscar.
Yet somehow they find themselves only a game away from next Sunday's final.
Stuttering performances
and the occasional stroke of good fortune against Croatia and Mexico in
the group stages and once more against Chile has hardly inspired
confidence in "A Selecao."
Poor showings from the
likes of strikers Hulk and Fred have been singled out for particular
scorn, although the former put in a solid performance against Colombia.
Much was also made in
the Brazilian media of 2002's winning coach Scolari -- a man who prides
himself on being a father figure to his players -- bringing in a
psychologist to speak to his team after many broke down in tears during
the national anthems and once again after the dramatic penalty kicks
victory over Chile.
Was this team soft and
mentally weak? Are the expectations of 200 million football-mad
Brazilians proving oppressive and too much to bear?
"Big Phil" truculently replied earlier this week that journalists who didn't like his methods could "go to hell."
Whether said reporters took heed or not, surely lack of maturity is not an accusation that can be leveled against Brazil now.
The men in yellow were
nothing if not committed, controlled and tactically astute, biting into
tackles and closing down with an intensity that ruffled their opponents.
Several gestured towards the crowd throughout the contest to increase the noise and crank up the pressure.
Colombia, by comparison, can hardly have been accused of being afraid.
Jose Pekerman's team has
played with a style and confidence throughout the tournament that has
been a joy to watch for neutral observers.
The delight the entire
squad takes in their choreographed dancing celebrations, meanwhile,
speaks to the relaxed vibe created by the coach, previously a World Cup
quarterfinalist with his native Argentina in 2006.
 Brazil's Julio Cesar: Brazil has to win
 Need a World Cup buddy? Rent one
Tellingly, however,
Colombia has only ever beaten Brazil twice and never in Brazil -- a run
that extends all the way back to 1945 and the formative years of the
Copa America.
That record will now last at least until the two sides meet next in qualification for the next World Cup in the coming years.
Still, today's Colombia
players will be heading back homes as heroes, the bright hope of a new
generation as the country itself moves on from a dark past.
It was 20 years ago this week that defender Andres Escobar was murdered in Medellin upon returning from the 1994 World Cup in the U.S. where he scored a cruel own-goal.
Thankfully, those dark days are largely gone and Colombian hopes will be high when the campaign for Russia 2018 begins.
Brazil, however, is still involved in 2014 and will be going to the semifinals in Belo Horizonte.
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