Neymar ban dents Brazil’s Copa America hopes

Neymar’s tale in the 2015 Copa America is over as he has been banned from the rest of the tournament. The 23 year old striker, one of the more experienced members of the Brazilian squad, was sent off at the conclusion of an intense, and ill-tempered match against Colombia.

Neymar was booked for handball during the match. His frustration of being unable to break past the Colombian Defence boiled up. After the final whistle was blown, Neymar received the red card after kicking the ball at Pablo Armero. He appeared to head butt another Colombian Jeison Murillo, who confronted him. Carlos Bacca of Colombia received a red card during the same post-match confrontation of the teams when he gave a retaliatory shove.

That was not all, according to the official report of match official Enrique Osses, Neymar was waiting for the man to walk down the tunnel and abuse him as they walked towards the dressing rooms. The initial assessment from the Copa America disciplinary board was to provisionally ban him for 2 games, which was then reduced to 1, with a final decision from CONEMBOL coming on Friday.

The final verdict from CONEMBOL is Neymar to be banned for 4 games (including his automatic 1 match ban) and fined $10,000 for his actions. This Neymar ban means he would miss every game of the tournament if Brazil were to make the finals.

What does the loss mean to Brazil?

The current Brazilian squad is dependent on Neymar for goals. Even at the age of 23, he is the 3 most capped player in the 23 man squad. In terms of goals? He is also the main source of goals for the squad. We saw what happened when Brazil went without him at the 2014 World Cup.

Diego Tardelli or Robinho, are the remaining 2 forwards. The former has been used more often than the latter and is likely to be the starting striker. But, barring Robinho, the remaining second highest goal scorer of the team is Dani Alves – A defender.

The attacking midfielders and remaining strikers need to improve their finishing skills to make up for the attacking threat the 23 year old Neymar provided. The Brazilians will need to address the problems of their backline, with coach Dunga not sure on his preferred defensive formation. Stability lacks at the backline which can cost goals.

The Brazilians stumbled on their first major hurdle after the 2014 FIFA World Cup. With all 4 teams in group C on 3 points after 2 games, it is set for a final showdown during the third round. Brazil face Venezuela. They are not as tough in comparison to Germany, Netherlands or even Colombia. However, with this new-look and relatively inexperienced (at the international stage) Brazil team, it is set to be a larger hurdle to overcome without Neymar. What would happen at the Knockout stage? When Brazil could face Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay or hosts Chile?

All is not lost. There is ground for Brazil to appeal the decision to reduce the Neymar ban to 3 matches. If granted, Neymar could play in the Final if Brazil make it.

It remains to be seen if Brazil can cope for where it counts without Neymar or they crumble without him.