Neymar reveals tackle which put him out of the World Cup almost left him PARALYSED

"If that blow had been a few inches lower I would have risked being paralysed," the Brazil star said

Jamie McDonald

Neymar: I was almost paralysed

Brazil star Neymar has revealed the tackle which put him out of the World Cup almost left him PARALYSED.

The Barcelona forward was hospitalised after suffering a fractured vertebrae in Brazil's World Cup quarter-final win over Colombia, after a challenge from Juan Zuniga.

Neymar told reporters Zuniga had called him to apologise for the knee in the back that initially left him unable to feel his legs.

"Zuniga called me a few days later to apologise and to tell me that he did not intend to hurt me," Neymar said. "I accept his apology, but I cannot consider that a normal action.

"I cannot say whether it was intentional, but everyone knows it wasn't normal. The way he came in, behind me, I couldn't defend myself.

"I thank God for helping me, because if that blow had been a few inches lower I would have risked being paralysed."

Neymar has now rejoined the Brazil World Cup squad and claims he feels most sorry for the players' families after the humiliation of THAT six-goal semi-final thrashing by Germany.

The host nations' public and media turned on Luiz Felipe Scolari's team after Germany tore them to ribbons in Belo Horizonte, rattling in five first half goals before agreeing in the dressing room to take their foot off the gas and running out 7-1 winners.

But Neymar said: "I'm not ashamed to be Brazilian. I'm not ashamed to be part of this team. I am proud of my team-mates. At 6-0, 7-0 down, they could have given up. But they kept running, kept trying. I'm proud of every one of them.

"Sport is like this. I don't like to lose, even in a street kick-about. It hurts a lot... but it will pass. Better days will come. We will do everything to bring joy back to the Brazilian people, to our families…

 

"If you look at each player, you see sadness, frustration. I hope we get back to smiling as soon as possible. It made me happy to see people applauding us and shouting our names [today] after an ugly loss. I thank everyone who came. We take the responsibility for losing the game, but life goes on.

"For me, like all of you, it was unbelievable. I cannot explain it. It was a blackout. We conceded goals and it was difficult to get our bearings - I know what it's like to be on the pitch when that happens: you can't organise, you can't pass, you can't do anything.

"I spoke to the players, asked them what happened. They didn't know how to explain it."

Scolari refused to quit, despite the shock spanking, and said most of the players in this squad would be involved in attempts to qualify for the next World Cup in Russia in 2018.

And Neymar, too, is now looking ahead to future tournaments.

"I'm really pleased to have joined up with my team-mates again. Of course it's a tough situation. I told them, 'We started this thing all together, so we'll end it all together as well.’

"It's important that we're united. We'll finish the tournament trying to honour this shirt we love and always dreamed of wearing. We have to try to be happy. It was a historic defeat but we cannot walk around with our heads bowed.

 "The fact we were unable to win the title doesn't mean all the players are bad - pick the squad again and it would be 90-95% the same,

"Our families end up suffering more than we do. We're strong enough to deal with it, but it's not cool to see your son crying.

"We had the chance to be champions in our own country, write our names into the history books. We failed. We didn't produce our best, we were just OK. It wasn't the kind of Brazil football that enchants everyone.”