Brazil and Barcelona star Raphinha has taken to social media on Friday evening, to jump to the defence of compatriot Neymar.
The name of attacker Neymar, of course, took its place front and centre in the headlines once more on Thursday.
This came upon the Paris Saint-Germain standout being forced into a late departure from his country’s World Cup group stage opening day downing of Serbia.
After coming in for rough treatment on the part of Serbia’s stars throughout proceedings, a blow to the ankle left Neymar in tears, and with immediate swelling.
In turn, it was confirmed earlier today that the ex-Barcelona man has been ruled out of both of Brazil’s remaining group stage fixtures.
The harsh nature of the Serbs’ efforts to keep Neymar at bay, post-match, sparked widespread debate, too.
This came as many called for better protection of one of world football’s most talented players.
Alongside such calls, though, too arrived a wave of abuse directed towards the Selecao’s gifted wide-man, 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.
As alluded to above, though, one individual who has tonight moved to back the 30-year-old comes in the form of teammate and fellow countryman Raphinha.
Taking to the Stories section of his official Instagram account, the summer arrival at Barcelona opted to take aim at his own country’s supporter base.
In fact, in comments which are no doubt set to spark controversy across Brazil, Raphinha went as far as to claim that the Selecao, as a collective, ‘do not deserve’ the talents of his attacking partner in crime:
“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.”
Qatar 1-3 Senegal: Match report, player ratings, expert analysis, fan reaction and more
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/xlmedia/d6ef9264-396f-45e7-b4b1-627d5535badb.png)
