Brazil coach Fernando Diniz has condemned the ‘disrespectful’ incident in which Neymar was hit in the head by a bag of popcorn thrown from the stands after his team’s 1-1 home draw with Venezuela .
The popcorn was thrown just before Neymar walked down the tunnel at the Arena Pantanal stadium at the end of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup on Thursday.
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Neymar, who had played the entire match, had to be restrained by Diniz as he pointed and shouted at fans in the stands where the object was thrown.
“I totally disapprove,” Diniz said of the incident during his post-match interview. “Cursing and booing is fine. Throwing a bag of popcorn doesn’t do anything for anyone.
“It’s disrespectful to those who came to play and tried to do their best.”
Diniz was also frustrated that Brazil did not win the match, with the result seeing Argentina overtake them in the standings.
Argentina beat Paraguay 1-0 on Thursday to remain perfect in qualifying and move two points ahead of Brazil after three matches.
“We could have had a second [goal], a third, a fourth,” Diniz added. “We finished the games poorly. We shouldn’t have conceded Venezuela’s goal either.
“We should have adjusted our marking and not given the opponent the chance to finish. But the team didn’t have a bad game. The players feel the heat and the difficulty of the pitch.”
Brazil return to action when they face Uruguay in another qualifying clash in Montevideo on Tuesday.
