The international break is well on its way and teams worldwide are participating in various World Cup qualifiers. The 5-time champions Brazil hosted South American rivals Venezuela and were held on to a 1-1 draw at the end of the second half.
Fair to say fans were not happy with this kind of display from the home team because they face bitter rivals Argentina in November. Argentina are yet to lose a single match since their World Cup winning and Brazilian fans are worried that a humiliation for the ages is possible with the way their team is currently playing.
Neymar being hit with a bag of popcorn after Brazil drew 1-1 vs. Venezuela at home. Brazil host Argentina in November.pic.twitter.com/7uckDCIgih
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) October 13, 2023
Unhappy with the result a fan threw a bag of popcorn to the current Al Hilal player Neymar while he was going down the tunnel.
Fair to say it angered the player massively and he later said in an interview that –“If the fan wants to curse, wants to boo, that’s fine. But throwing a pack of popcorn doesn’t add anything to anyone”.
Fans online also came in support of the former PSG star as they reacted by saying “Why do they hate Neymar“, “Absolutely classless by those fans, Neymar doesn’t deserve that disrespectful treatment, “Brazil fans are frustrated but popcorn toss was taking it too far”.
The Brazilian coach Diniz also criticized the behavior of the fans and said this isn’t how fans should treat their players.
Brazil will face Uruguay next in a tough match and would be hoping to bounce back from their performance against Venezuela.
Venezuela ended Brazil’s 15-match winning streak
The recent Conmebol qualifier between Brazil and Venezuela generated a lot of talking points and though the one incident that is currently gaining attention on social media is the popcorn incident, the one that will be remembered for years to come is how an underdog team like Venezuela did something many stronger teams couldn’t achieve.
Brazil’s 15-game winning streak at home in World Cup qualifiers comes to an end after a 1-1 draw vs. Venezuela ❌ pic.twitter.com/NbxFa6wZhS
— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 13, 2023
Brazil’s success in recent years has not been much except for the Copa America win in 2019 but they boasted one of the longest-running winning streak.
Brazil has won 15 consecutive home matches since 2016. They were set to host Argentina, the defending World Cup and Copa America champion, in November.
Venezuela was the second-best team throughout the match and was on the verge of losing but a beautiful acrobatic strike from Eduard Bello turned the tide and marked a historic day in Venezuelan soccer history.
WOW. What a goal by Eduard Bello to make it 1-1 (Brazil vs Venezuela). 😳 pic.twitter.com/Yz05EFLdme
— Moby (@Mobyhaque1) October 13, 2023
Fans online were also shocked by this result as they reacted by saying- “What stopped Brazil from winning this game, They had all the chances to do so”.
While others congratulated Venezuela and were amazed by the goal scored. Brazil wasted many chances during the match as they lacked a proper number 9 who could score the goals. The men in yellow need to pick themselves up from here as tougher challenges await them.