Sunday evening saw Brazil take to the pitch in Russia for the first time with the crowd in Rostov-on-Don excited to see Neymar in action, however the Paris Saint-Germain forward was targeted by Switzerland’s defenders as he was fouled 10 times.
If there were concerns over Neymar’s fitness in the build-up to the match then they will have been exacerbated following the physical treatment which he received.
Much of the pre-match press conferences saw Vladimir Petkovic and Stephan Lichtsteiner talk of how unstoppable the 26-year-old is, but they found a way to limit his effectiveness.
Valon Behrami took the first hit before Granit Xhaka nearly pulled Neymar’s shirt off his back, Lichtsteiner would then inadvertently claw at the forward’s face in an attempt to pull at his shirt.
There is nothing wrong with a team trying to limit the impact an individual player can have, but by the second half the plan was bordering on ridiculous.
Neymar received very little protection from referee, Cesar Ramos, with the television cameras even pointing out several stud-holes made in his socks.
No single player has been fouled more in a single World Cup match since Alan Shearer went up against Tunisia in France 1998, on that occasion the former Newcastle United goal-scorer was fouled 11 times.
As unpleasant as it was to watch, it was certainly effective as the European side managed to claim an unexpected draw with the former Barcelona forward unable to really contribute.
There were a handful of technically impressive flicks and feints, but nothing of any real substance with Cristiano Ronaldo still the shining star of the competition to this point.
With the match entering its final stages, Neymar was livid and had clearly had enough with cameras capturing him counting the fouls out on his fingers to the official.
Tite and the Selecao bench were equally as unimpressed, often coming to the edge of their technical area to complain to the Mexican referee.
Metatarsal injuries are notoriously troublesome in terms of how long they take to heal fully, Neymar has been suffering since February and Brazil’s medical team will check on his condition on Monday morning.