What’s the story?
FC Barcelona superstar Neymar has taken a dig at Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos following the German midfielder’s controversial New Year’s greeting to his followers. The Brazilian forward commented on Kroos’ Instagram post with a ‘hand’ emoticon – most likely referring to Brazil’s 5 World Cup triumphs as against to Germany’s 4.
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In case you didn’t know...
Germany annihilated Brazil in the semi-final of the 2014 World Cup at the Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Die Mannschaft hit 7 past a helpless Julio Cesar as the non-existent Brazilian defence watched on – helplessly, Oscar did score a consolation goal for the home side to make it 7-1.. It marked one of the most humiliating defeats in the history of Brazilian football and has often been described as a national humiliation.
The game equalled Brazil’s biggest margin of defeat, when they had succumbed to a 6-0 loss against Uruguay in 1920. It also broke Brazil's 62-match unbeaten streak at home, which dated back to their 3-1 loss against Peru in Copa America 1975.
Germany then went on to beat Argentina in the final to lift their 4th World Cup, one less than Brazil's record haul of 5.
The heart of the matter
Toni Kroos had posted an image greeting his followers on New Year which read: “Feliz 2017’, wherein instead of the numerals ‘1’ and ‘7’, he had used the flags of Brazil and Germany respectively. This was in reference to Brazil’s humiliating 7-1 defeat at the hands of Germany in the 2014 World Cup semi-finals at home.
What's next?
Kroos’ Instagram post didn’t go down well with many Brazilians including his Real Madrid teammate Marcelo along with Real Madrid and Brazil legend Ronaldo (El Fenomeno).
Marcelo took to Twitter to post a message, which read: “Happy new year to all. Good health and RESPECT others always.” – An apparent dig at Kroos.
Ronaldo (El Fenomeno) had also trolled Toni Kroos on a Facebook post, which read: “On request... Happy New Year Toni Kroos” – originally – “A pedidos... FELIZ ANO NOVO”. However, what was written on the image caught the eye as it was: “Feliz 2017”, with ‘2’ and ‘0’ replaced by Brazil and German flags respectively. An apparent dig at the German for Brazil’s 2-0 win over Germany in the final of the 2002 World Cup – Ronaldo had scored both the goals in the final.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Banter between two footballers is a common theme in the world of football and as such there’s not much to read between the lines. However, one must hope that it doesn’t get below the belt, rest as they say – ‘the show must go on!’.
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