Brazil star Neymar ruled out of the World Cup due to fractured vertebrae

BARCELONA striker Neymar has been ruled out of the remainder of the World Cup due to a broken bone in his back.

AGONY: Brazil striker Neymar screams in pain after colliding with Columbia's Juan Zuniga [GETTY]

Neymar, 22, picked up the injury during Brazil's 2-1 quarter-final victory over Colombia last night.

The striker fractured a vertebra in his spine when he was kneed in the back by Colombia's Juan Zuniga in the final minutes of the game.

Brazil boss Luis Felipe Scolari was furious with Zuniga's challenge, which went unpunished, and claimed that his star striker was always going to the victim of over-the-top tackling.

CLASH: Neymar was kneed in the back by Juan Zuniga with three minutes of the game left to play [GETTY]

“Neymar was going to be hunted”

Luis Felipe Scolari

He said: "Neymar was going to be hunted. For three matches that has been happening."

Team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar revealed late last night that the Brazilian talisman, who has scored four goals for the Samba boys in the tournament, would no longer be able to participate in the rest of the tournament.

But Lasmar claimed that Barca star would not need to undergo any major surgery for the injury.

He said: "Unfortunately, he's not going to be able to play. He is very, very sad.

"It's not serious in the sense that it doesn't need surgery, but he'll need to immobilise it to recover."