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 countryβs World Cup group stage opening day downing of Serbia.
After coming in for rough treatment on the part of Serbiaβs stars throughout proceedings, a blow to the ankle left Neymar in tears, and with immediate swelling.
Neymar’s ankle has already swollen horribly. ππ€
πΈ @geglobo pic.twitter.com/MI1739Ghhb
β Football Tweet β½ξ¨ (@Football__Tweet) November 24, 2022
In turn, it was confirmed earlier today that the ex-Barcelona man has been ruled out of both of Brazilβs remaining group stage fixtures.
The harsh nature of the Serbsβ efforts to keep Neymar at bay, post-match, sparked widespread debate, too.
Alongside such calls, though, too arrived a wave of abuse directed towards the Selecaoβs gifted wide-man, with some having remarkably gone as far as to suggest that Neymarβs 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 countryβs 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, βdo not deserveβ the talents of his attacking partner in crime:
βThe 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 Neyβs career is being born in Brazil, this country does not deserve his talent.β
« Les supporters π¦π· traitent Messi comme un Dieu.
Les fans π΅πΉ traitent CR7 comme un roi.
Les fans π§π· encouragent Ney Γ se casser la jambe.La plus grosse erreur dans la carriΓ¨re de Ney est d’Γͺtre nΓ© au BrΓ©sil, ce pays ne mΓ©rite pas son talentΒ Β»
La story Insta de Raphinha. π pic.twitter.com/GyzhESHIvN
β Actu Foot (@ActuFoot_) November 25, 2022
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