Neymar, Carlos Bacca shown red cards after Colombia beat Brazil

Colombia beat Brazil for the first time since 1991, avenging last summer’s World Cup quarterfinal loss with a 36th minute goal from Jeison Murillo in Copa America Group C. But once the final whistle blew, the real fun began.

It started with Neymar kicking the ball at a celebrating Pablo Armero, then lightly headbutting goal scorer Murillo, prompting Colombia striker Carlos Bacca to come charging in and shove him from behind.

You might remember that it was Colombia’s Juan Zuniga who murdered Neymar during that World Cup match last year with his own act of violence on the Brazilian messiah’s back, forcing him to miss the rest of the tournament and plunging Brazil into an unthinkable hell. So with that bad blood still simmering, the two sides scuffled and the referee showed Neymar a red card as Brazilian staffers tried to hurry him down the tunnel…

And then tracked down Bacca, whose shirt was worse for wear to show him one, as well.

Neymar already faced a one-mach ban for picking up his second yellow card of the tournament earlier in this match, so with a red card on top of that, he will miss at least two matches (the final group match and the quarterfinal…should Brazil get that far). That means for the second straight year, Neymar’s demise in a physical match against Colombia precedes Brazil’s, which now seems certain to come sooner than later.

 

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