Neymar scored a hat-trick in Brazil's 5-0 victory over Bafana.
Paris Saint-Germain coach Unai Emery is fighting for survival after his side was swept away 6-1 by Barcelona in a Champions League rout described as a “nightmare” and a “humiliation”.
The Spaniard had been hailed as a tactical genius last month when his French champions stunned mighty Barça 4-0 in Paris in the first leg of their last-16 tie.
But on Wednesday, in front of almost 100 000 people at the Nou Camp, PSG shipped three late goals in an incredible last seven minutes as Barcelona completed the greatest comeback in the history of the tournament, winning 6-5 on aggregate.
“Everyone knows that the quarterfinals were an objective and, after winning the first leg 4-0, that aim was confirmed,” said PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the Qatari official whose country has poured millions of dollars into the French club. “This is a nightmare for everybody.”
Emery, meanwhile, said PSG was damaged by German referee Deniz Aytekin’s decisions to award two penalties to Barcelona in the second half.
Lionel Messi converted the first penalty at 50 minutes to make it 3-0, before PSG’s Edinson Cavani scored what looked like a crucial away goal.
But Neymar, after scoring an 88th-minute free kick, tucked away the second penalty in the 91st minute before Sergi Roberto got the final goal in the fifth minute of injury time.
“The truth is we have let a huge opportunity get away and we are aware of that. In the first half it was more our fault than them playing well,” said Emery.
“In the second half it changed. The [Messi] penalty got them off to a great start, but I was already calmer because I could see the team was responding better.
“We had chances to make it 3-2 and then the refereeing decisions, I don’t know if they were right or not, but for sure they damaged us. Then in the last two minutes we lost everything we had recovered in the second half.”
PSG’s Belgian defender Thomas Meunier blasted his teammates for allowing Barcelona to bully them.
“At 5-1 down, we were qualifying but we conceded a goal that we should not have conceded,” he said. “We acquiesced, we were victims and let them dominate us.” – AFP