By Nehru Odeh
It was an emotional moment when Croatian winger Ivan Perisic’s son, Leo, ran across the field to console Brazilian midfielder Neymar da Santos Jr after Croatia knocked out Brazil on penalty kicks on Friday.
After the loss, Brazilian superstar Neymar was left stunned and in tears on the pitch. but the young son of Ivan Perisic, made his way over to Neymar to console him.
Still, that moment also showed Neymar’s spirit of sportsmanship when on seeing security attempting to stop Perisic’s son from making a beehive for him, he intervened and took the time to speak to Perisic Junior and gave him a hug before heading off the pitch.
The moment was especially heartbreaking for Brazilian superstar Neymar, whose goal in extra time gave Brazil a 1-0 lead for a few fleeting moments.
But when the Brazilians thought they had won, Croatia struck back to send the match to penalty kicks, and win, leaving Neymar in tears at midfield, wondering what went wrong.
At the 2018 World Cup, Croatia made it all the way to the final before falling to France.
With their win over Brazil, they are one step closer to making it back to the biggest match in world soccer.