Neymar may have sunk Brazil's Copa America chances for the same reason he sunk Brazil's World Cup chances: not being on the field.
It's a little different this time around though. Instead of being sidelined with a debilitating back injury, Neymar will watch the rest of the Copa America from the sidelines because he ran his mouth to the ref.
Against Colombia, Neymar was sent off immediately following the match, a Colombia victory, for what Brazil fans will call a nudge and Colombia fans will call assault and battery. The truth, as always, lies somewhere in the middle.
It got worse after that. According to reports, Neymar waited at the tunnel after to yell at the ref for what had happened.
Worse than that is what Neymar allegededly said: "you want to make yourself famous, you son of a b*tch."
Yikes. That'll do it. No wonder Brazil dropped their appeal of his match ban (if they had lost the appeal, there's a chance the ban could have been extended to include World Cup qualifiers).
Oh, and Neymar has denied saying any such thing to the ref, he merely waited to ask the ref the reason for the send-off.
Right.
Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus
