appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

Brazil stoked controversy ahead of the World Cup semi-finals by urging Fifa to scrap the suspension ruling captain Thiago Silva out of the host nation’s clash with Germany.
The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said it wanted Fifa to rescind the yellow card awarded against Silva during Friday’s bruising quarter-final win over Colombia.
The card against Silva was “unjustly shown” and the defender should therefore be allowed to face the Germans in Belo Horizonte, the CBF said.
The Brazilian association also demanded Fifa launched an investigation into  the “violent challenge” by Colombia’s Juan Zuniga that forced star striker Neymar out of the tournament.
Zuniga has apologised for the tackle but insisted there was no intention to injure the opponent.
Neymar cried “I can’t feel my legs” after Zuniga’s knee-in-the-back challenge, Brazil’s coach Luiz Felipe Scolari told Spanish sports daily Marca.
Scolari said the whole team panicked.
Left back Marcelo was first to reach the striker, who suffered a fractured vertebrae.
Marcelo knelt next to Neymar and asked how he felt, according to Scolari.  “He replied: ‘I can’t feel my legs’,” added the coach.
Marcelo shouted for the team doctor, but doctors are not allowed onto the pitch.
“It was a big shock, the image of Neymar being stretchered off to the helicopter, in difficulty, crying,” Scolari said.
That incident continued to appear on Sunday’s sports news bulletins on local television but Brazil’s former World Cup winning captain Carlos Alberto Torres hoped it might end up being a good omen for the squad.
The 1970 skipper recalled how Amarildo and Garrincha had stepped up to fill the void left by an injury to Pele in 1962 and helped steer Brazil to the title.
“In the 1962 World Cup, we lost Pele,” he told Sportv. “Maybe someone will wake up and become the Garrincha of 1962.”
Doctors also confirmed Angel Di Maria will miss the semi-final against the Netherlands because of a thigh problem but did not rule the winger out of being fit for the final should Argentina prevail in Sao Paulo on Wednesday.
“Angel has a Grade 1 injury. Of course, he won’t play in Argentina’s next game. After that, we’ll evaluate the situation day-by-day,” team doctor Daniel Martinez said.
Germany were sure Neymar’s absence would not weaken the challenge facing them in Belo Horizonte, with Bastian Schweinsteiger expecting Brazil to draw strength from the adversity suffered by their posterboy.
“It’ll bring the (Brazil) team together and they’ll want to win the title for him,” Schweinsteiger said.
Schweinsteiger’s coach Joachim Loew, however, was more concerned about the methods Brazil might use in the mouth-watering last four clash, wary of a repeat of the tough tackling that marked their win over Colombia.
“There’s precious little left of that traditional Brazilian style of soccer, that artistic style of playing that we all know so well,” Loew said at his team’s base camp on the Atlantic coast.

	There’s precious little left of that traditional Brazilian style of soccer, that artistic style of playing that we all know so well

	Joachim Loew
“For sure, Brazil still have good technical players. But they’re playing more robustly than any other team here and they have been trying to break up their opponent’s attack that way.”
Brazil have made no apology for the 31 fouls they committed against Colombia and Dutch goalkeeper Tim Krul was another quarter-final victor unrepentant for his actions.
Krul replaced first-choice keeper Jasper Cillessen specifically for the quarter-final shootout against Costa Rica, staring down his opponents and yelling at them as they prepared to shoot.
The gamesmanship resulted in him saving Bryan Ruiz and Michael Umana’s spot-kicks to set up the last four clash with Argentina.
“I didn’t shout anything nasty at them. I just told them that I knew where they were going. I’m trying obviously to get in their heads and it worked,” he said.
Agence France-Presse, Reuters


China marks 20 years since reaching its only Fifa World Cup with long wait for return set to go on

On this day: China qualified for its only Fifa World Cup

Hong Kong broadcast rights for Tokyo 2020 and 2022 World Cup up in the air

Xi Jinping’s World Cup dream, tattoo bans and Carlos Tevez: Chinese football in the 2010s

Fifa World Cup 2014

Brazil stoke controversy by trying to overturn Thiago Silva's ban

Captain Thiago Silva celebrates after scoring during the quarter-final against Colombia. Photo: AFP 

Spanish referee Carlos Velasco Carballo shows Thiago Silva the yellow card, meaning he will miss the semi-final unless an appeal is successful Photo:  AFP

Argentina's Angel di Maria lies injured during the quarter-final with Belgium.  Photo: EPA 

German coach Joachim Loew says the Brazilians are playing more robustly than any other team. Photo: Reuters

Sport

Football

Argentine hopes of seeing Angel di Maria face Netherlands ended by injury


Brazil launched a desperate appeal to have skipper Thiago Silva’s ban for their World Cup semi-final against Germany overturned, but Argentine hopes of seeing Angel di Maria in action were ended by injury.


Brazil stoke controversy by trying to overturn Thiago Silva's ban

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Argentine hopes of seeing Angel di Maria face Netherlands ended by injury

Argentine hopes of seeing Angel di Maria face Netherlands ended by injury