A remarkable piece of footage stemming from the aftermath of today’s World Cup showdown between Brazil and Croatia has come to the fore late on Friday night.
The first of four quarter-final fixtures at international football’s most high-profile tournament, of course, played out in Al Rayyan this afternoon.
The clash saw world no.1 Brazil face off with giant killers Croatia.
The former, for obvious reasons, headed into proceedings as favourites to book their spot in the final four, having made the trip to Qatar boasting the tag of frontrunners to march all the way to a record-setting sixth World Cup crown.
When all was said and done, however, it was instead Croatia who defied the odds once more, holding their nerve in a tense penalty shootout to send Tite’s Selecao packing.
Brutal.
Brazil were in tears after being knocked out of the World Cup 😢#BBCWorldCup #BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/MOTulGenUY
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 9, 2022
On the back of the action coming to a close, it therefore came as little surprise to see a whole host of Brazil’s stars looking as good as inconsolable on the Education City Stadium pitch.
After seeing what looked set to be the game’s winner owing to a moment of individual brilliance cancelled out by Bruno Petkovic’s last-gasp leveller, the talismanic Neymar was not even afforded the opportunity to step up to take a spot-kick during the shootout, owing to the struggles of those who came before him.
Forlorn and utterly downtrodden post-match, the Paris Saint-Germain standout, though, was soon comforted by an altogether unexpected figure.
As showcased in the footage below, long after the action had been brought to a close, a young supporter donning Croatia’s colours made his way onto the pitch, to console Neymar.
And the boy in question has since been revealed to be none other than the son of Croatian wide-man Ivan Perisic:
Leo Perisić, Ivan’s son, running over to console Neymar Jr in tears. 🇧🇷🇭🇷 #Qatar2022
This video is simply great 🤍🎥 pic.twitter.com/xJeIn1Rxmv
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 9, 2022
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