Neymar’s tears, Switzerland’s victory: key moments from day 9 of FIFA World Cup 2018

Brazil score in dying minutes against Costa Rica

June 23, 2018 05:45 pm | Updated June 24, 2018 02:02 pm IST

Tears of joy: Neymar

Tears of joy: Neymar

>> Friday was the third time that Brazil and Costa Rica came face-to-face in the World Cup. Like the other two times, Brazil maintained their winning streak - they had defeated Costa Rica 1-0 in 1990 and 5-2 in 2002.

>> Neymar's frustration with his opponents continued. After being fouled five times in the first half, the Brazilian striker approached the referee in the half-time to complain, only to be restrained by skipper Marcelo. Things escalated when he was caught on camera cursing the Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers, and then slamming the ball into the ground, which finally got him a booking for dissent.

>> Mild drama in the 26’ as Marcelo's goal disallowed due to offside.

>> What is a World Cup game without a VAR controversy. In the 77’, Neymar dived down (a tad bit exaggeratedly) in the penalty box, claiming he has been fouled. The referee, on consulting VAR, denies it.

>> Philippe Coutinho picked up another yellow card in the very next minute, but redeemed himself by firing Brazil's first goal after 91 minutes of struggle. Incidentally, he is the Man of the Match of the game.

>> With one minute to spare, Neymar finally got his World Cup goal. Full time whistle blew and Neymar broke down into tears. He later described it as “tears of joy.” Meanwhile on the pitch, Brazil's head coach took an epic tumble celebrating the victory.

>> Neymar is now the third best-scorer for Brazil behind Pele (77) and Ronaldo (62). The 26-year-old has scored 56 goals in 87 matches.

>> Possession of ball: Brazil 72% Costa Rica 28%

>> The combined prayers of Nigerians and Argentinians, who face imminent exit from the World Cup if Iceland were to win, seems to have worked against Iceland.

>> Nigeria’s Ahmed Musa scored twice (49', 75) to give Nigeria it's first taste of victory in this World Cup. Group D's second spot is now open for taking by Nigeria, Iceland or Argentina.

>> Iceland defender Ragnar Sigurdsson went down after being struck in the back of the head - things looked grim, but he was back on the pitch in five minutes with a bandage to stem the flow of blood, sparking off debates about concussions and the treatment of players. He was substituted in the 65thminute.

>> Another injury, this time for Nigeria. In the 94’, John Obi Mikel clutches his wrist in agony, but continued the game

>> Possession of ball: Nigeria 59% Iceland 41%

>> This is the first time that Switzerland and the independent nation of Serbia played against each other. They had met previously on 13 occasions when Serbia was a part of Yugoslavia.

>> Serbia's early lead, thanks to Aleksandar Mitrovic's powerful header, ends up in vain as Switzerland stages a spectacular comeback with two goals in the 52' and 90'.

>> As Serbia looked on stunned, the spotlight was on Granit Xhaka's controversial celebration. Open palms crossed and thumbs hooked to resemble a flapping bird, Xhaka's gesture was a defiant tribute to the double-headed eagle displayed on Albania's flag. Xherdan Shaqiri repeated the gesture in the 90’ after he slid the ball past the keeper. Xhaka and Shaqiri are among several members of the Swiss squad who are of Kosovar heritage. Serbia refuses to recognise the independence of its former province Kosovo which broke away 10 years ago. Xhaka’s father, an ethnic Albanian, was imprisoned in Serbia in the 1980s, reported AFP.

>> In addition to this, Shaqiri earned a yellow card for "excessive celebration" after he got carried away and took off his shirt.

>> Possession of ball: Serbia 38% Switzerland 62%

Read key moments from yesterday's matches here . Follow The Hindu's comprehensive coverage of the  World Cup here .

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.