Zuniga: I never meant to hurt Neymar

Zuniga and Neymar clash in an incident that rules the Brazilian out of the tournament

With Neymar’s injury ruling him out of the rest of the World Cup, all eyes were on Colombia defender Juan Zuniga, who caused the injury when he kneed him in his back. The Colombian defender said he did not deliberately try to hurt the Brazilian forward.

Goals from David Luiz and Thiago Silva were enough for the hosts to beat Colombia 2-1 and progress to the semi-final against Germany in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday. But the injury to Neymar, who fractured his vertebrae and suspension to Thiago Silva severely reduces their chances of progressing to the final at the Maracana.

Speaking after the game, Zuniga said: "We wanted to score, and it was a tough game. Brazil was marking strongly. I hope it's nothing serious, let's pray to God.“ The defender also added that he never thought it would be this serious. “On the pitch I'm defending my shirt, my country, but I didn't expect him to fracture a vertebrae. He is a great talent for Brazil and for the world.It's a normal action, I tried to shadow him. I was not thinking of hurting him. I was defending my country’s colours.”

With the clock winding down, Zuniga jumped into the back of Neymar and his knee hit Neymar’s back, which forced the forward out of the game on a stretcher. It wasn’t until he was taken to a nearby hospital that the extent of the damage was diagnosed.

After it, Zuniga added: "Sadly it happened this way. I hope he gets well, God willing," Although the doctors say that he doesn’t need surgery, his injury means that coach Scolari has some work to do if they are to beat Germany and go on to claim their sixth World Cup crown.