Jerome Boateng believed he would beat Barcelona when he walked on the field on the 6th of May, 2015. He was a part of one of the greatest teams in the world, a German machine that had just completed a ludicrous second leg comeback against FC Porto.
Neymar may have sunk Brazil's Copa America chances for the same reason he sunk Brazil's World Cup chances: not being on the field.
It's a little different this time around though. Instead of being sidelined with a debilitating back injury, Neymar will watch the rest of the Copa America from the sidelines because he ran his mouth to the ref.
Against Colombia, Neymar was sent off immediately following the match, a Colombia victory, for what Brazil fans will call a nudge and Colombia fans will call assault and battery. The truth, as always, lies somewhere in the middle.
As Jamaica bow out of the Copa America after suffering their third 1-0 defeat in a row, Jamaican forward Deshorn Brown decided to leave with a piece of digital gold.
Neymar’s red card against Colombia in the Copa America - which will see him miss the rest of the tournament - has been one of the most talked about points in the competition thus far, and Brazilian legend and commentator Ronaldo just weighed in on the forward’s action.
As one of the most prolific players to put on the yellow and green of Brazil, Ronaldo’s disappointment and criticism of Neymar perfectly sums up the current mood of the country and their hopes of progressing in the tournament.
I wonder how many thousands of groundskeepers and security people around the world groaned when they saw this video. Pitch invaders are probably the most annoying part of their jobs, and here is Cristiano Ronaldo, a star among stars, rewarding two of them. It’s just about as close to a rousing endorsement as he could give.
In an attempt to regain pride for Brazil after their early World Cup exit, Neymar may have just embarrassed the nation yet again after being sent off in their Copa America match against Colombia.
After the final whistle blew with Colombia in the lead, Brazil’s poster boy came head-to-head with Murillo who seemed to egg him on. One thing lead to another resulting in Neymar attempting to headbutt the Colombian defender. Naturally, Carlos Bacca rushed over to protect his teammate by violently shoving Neymar away. Both players were sent off for unsporting behavior.
Lionel Messi had an off year in 2014. He lost in the World Cup Final. He didn’t win the Ballon d’Or. His club, Barcelona, lost out on all three major trophies, including missing out on a chance to win La Liga on the very last match day of the year. By the end of the year it was looking like Barcelona, as great as they would always be, were a long way away from hitting the heights of their glorious past, and that Messi would never be able to regain the form that earned him 4 straight Ballon d’Ors.
How much have things changed.
Matchday 6 has come to a close in UEFA’s European Qualifiers with only four more games left for each country. After the first week kicked-off in the later half of 2014, the 53 nations split into nine groups have developed distinct leaders who will enter into the play-off stages. As of now, the leaders of each group are: Iceland, Wales, Slovakia, Poland, England, Romania, Austria, Croatia, and Portugal.
Clint Dempsey made a bad night worse for the Seattle Sounders Tuesday. The Sounders finished their US Open Cup match against the Portland Timbers with seven players thanks to an injury after they had used up all their subs, and three red cards. The last, and funniest, of these was given to Dempsey, who, while protesting a red card to a different Sounders player, took the referee's notebook and ripped it up. Although the ref was totally justified in red-carding Dempsey (who now might face a suspension for the incident, which is stupid), points for originality here for Clint.