Brazil’s Neymar returns to practice
Brazil is making sure everyone knows Neymar is perfectly fit at the World Cup
A day after he limped out of training and raised further doubts about his physical condition in Russia, the Brazilian soccer federation was quick to tell the world the team’s biggest star was just fine.
Brazil had a closed practice session Wednesday in Sochi, Russia, two days before its game against Costa Rica in St. Petersburg, but the federation posted photos and a video of Neymar in action in training with the rest of the squad.
“Brazil practicing and Neymar participating normally in the team’s activity,” the federation said in a Twitter post.
One of the photos showed the playmaker touching the ball with his injured right ankle. Burger bungle: Burger King says it’s sorry for offering a lifetime supply of Whoppers to Russian women who get pregnant from World Cup players.
Critics assailed the offer, announced on Russian social media, as sexist and demeaning.
The announcement was removed Tuesday from Burger King’s social media accounts but is still circulating among Russian social network users. It promised a reward to women who get “the best football genes” and “ensure the success of the Russian team for generations to come.”
Ads in Russia often play on sexist stereotypes, notably ads around sports events like the World Cup. Women’s rights activists have been increasingly speaking out against them. Concussion protocol? The impact to his head was so violent that Nordin Amrabat can’t remember the World Cup match at all, even though he was playing in it.
“Five, six hours, gone. Totally gone,” the Morocco midfielder said of the concussion sustained in his team’s opening match against Iran. “When you think about it, it is a little bit scary.”
Five days after a clash of heads sent him to hospital for a brain scan and 24 hours of medical supervision, the 31year-old was back in the Moroccan lineup Wednesday and played the entire match in a 1-0 loss to Portugal, in defiance of FIFA guidelines and his team doctor.
The players’ union, FIFPro, was highly critical of what it called “yet another alarming example of a player being put in harm’s way.”
Briefly: England coach Gareth Southgate dislocated his right shoulder while running during England’s scheduled day off from training and was taken to the hospital by a team doctor. He ran practice with his arm in a sling. “It is better this is me than one of the players,” Southgate said . ... Brazil says FIFA — soccer world’s governing body — dismissed its complaint over the use of video review in the team’s opener against Switzerland. Its federation said FIFA didn’t specifically address the plays contested by Brazil: non-calls on a push inside the area before Switzerland’s equalizer and a penalty on Gabriel Jesus. FIFA reiterated the Video Assistant Referee is used only to eliminate clear and obvious mistakes by the officiating crew.