Brazil played Costa Rica in their second match of the World Cup.
Brazil beat Costa Rica 2-0 in their second match of the World Cup to lead the Group E with four points. Philippe Coutinho scored in the second half, while Neymar scored in the final minute to win the match in style for Brazil.
But Neymar didn’t only make headlines for the goal he scored. He also received criticism for his blatant dive to ensure a penalty in the second half of the match.
The incident happened in the 78th minute of the match, when Jesus finds Neymar with a cheeky pass. Costa Rica’s defender Giancarlo Gonzalez puts his arm on Neymar, as Neymar falls. While the touch looked rather soft, referee awarded the penalty in favour of Brazil.
However, with VAR, it was ascertained that the contact was insufficient for Neymar to fall, and the penalty was wiped out.
After the incident, the social media burst into criticism and rebuke for Neymar’s antics.
Here’s the video of the incident:
Embarrassing dive from Neymar. pic.twitter.com/eFXiwp4o8j
— Samue (@VintageSalah) June 22, 2018
Naturally, Neymar became the butt of jokes on Twitter for his dive as well.
VAR gets it 100% right. Neymar dived and justice was done. That’s exactly what VAR is for.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) June 22, 2018
VAR works on Neymar call. Ridiculous dive by the Brazilian. Why I prefer Messi. You’d have to use an axe before he’d go to ground. #BRACRC
— Tom Harrington (@cbctom) June 22, 2018
That Neymar dive will go down in all time top 5 dives. It was truly spectacular.
— Nando (@nandorvila) June 22, 2018
Neymar has coloured his hair like maggi because he will take exactly two minutes to dive in the match..#WORLDCUP
— Desi Gooner🇪🇸 (@Sahil_Adhikaari) June 17, 2018
A 20-minute cameo which sums up Neymar. Booked for petulance of slamming ball, a shameless dive, a moment of showboating followed by a late goal. Thankfully a strong referee was able to minimise his nonsense and attempts to officiate the match.
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) June 22, 2018
Neymar would rather dive than shoot into a half empty net. Astonishing.
— Tom Todhunter (@tdhntr) June 22, 2018
Neymar: I’m going to dive and win a penalty.
VAR: Hold my beer.
— Danny WelBeast (@WelBeast) June 22, 2018
Disgraceful dive by Brazilian manager Tite. Now I know where Neymar gets it from. pic.twitter.com/8AwkbBlXih
— Limpar33 (@Limpar33) June 22, 2018
We all know where Neymar learned to dive #BRACOS pic.twitter.com/e0qzj5pFcA
— Kristen (@KristenMongor27) June 22, 2018
Neymar crying because he didn’t dive enough 😂 #BRACRC #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/W0GUOCwawS
— World Cup Goals (@FIFAWCGoals) June 22, 2018
I’m surprised all of the spaghetti noodles didn’t fall off of Neymar’s head with that dive…VAR for the win.
— Corey Andress (@EACoreySA) June 22, 2018
That Tite Dive. Neymar clearly learned the trade from his Coach pic.twitter.com/DUhuWA9H52
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) June 22, 2018
That Neymar dive will go down in all time top 5 dives. It was truly spectacular.
— Nando (@nandorvila) June 22, 2018
Neymar angled well. Special dive. 10/10.
— Misc (@MrThelwell) June 22, 2018
If at first you don’t succeed, dive, dive and dive again (and again, thanks to VAR). Now if that’s not a penalty on review, then surely it’s a yellow card for a dive? One implies the other, no? #neymar #WorldCup2018
— Ross Tucker (@Scienceofsport) June 22, 2018
