Brazilian golden boy Neymar has been ruled out of the rest of the 2014 World Cup after fracturing a vertebra in his spine, and according to reports relayed by the Metro, the 22-year-old missed paralysis by a matter of inches.

The above photo, which is doing the rounds on Twitter, is said to show the Neymar x-ray, with the circled area highlighting the fracture. The injury was sustained when Colombia’s Juan Zúñiga smashed into the back of the Barcelona man late on in the Selecao’s 2-1 quarter final win on Friday.

He was stretchered off in agony, with players from both sides showing concern for the former Santos striker.

Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said: “Neymar was going to be hunted. For three matches that has been happening.”

Team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar told Brazil’s SportTV: “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.”