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Neymar: I Was Almost Paralyzed
- Associated Press, Friday, July 11, 2014 12:19 PM
Neymar broke down in tears on Thursday when talking about the injury that ruled him out the World Cup, saying that if the knee to his back from Colombia’s Juan Zuniga had been slightly more to one side he “could be a in a wheelchair” now.
“It’s difficult to talk about a move that (happened) in such an important moment of my career,” the 22-year-old said. Neymar “If it had been 2 centimeters to the center …,” he added, struggling to stay composed. “I could be in a wheelchair.”
The Barcelona forward said that while Zuniga called him to apologize, “I don’t know if he was trying to hurt me, but if you understand football you know that it was not a normal challenge,” he said. “I can’t protect myself when I’m not facing the play. The only thing that can protect me from someone coming from behind are the rules. I couldn’t protect myself and I ended getting hurt.”
