Suarez to Fred: The most controversial moments of World Cup 2014

World Cups are never without controversy. In fact, what is a World Cup without controversy? A referee’s mistake, a dive, a dangerous tackle - the possibilities are endless. As much for its goals and wondrous moments, a World Cup is remembered for incidents that should not have have happened on and off the pitch. [caption id=“attachment_1618921” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Zuniga’s challenge broke Neymar’s back. Reuters[/caption] Here are the most controversial moments of World Cup 2014: Suarez bite: Controversy follows Luis Suarez like a shadow. The hitman first took his team past England in a heroic performance which saw him score two goals but he lost it in the match against Italy, biting defender Giorgios Chiellini on the shoulder. FIFA ended up slapping him with a nine-match/four-month ban from all football related activities. He can’t even take part in a charity game. Foul on Neymar: Juan Zuniga reached boiling point in a match which saw the Brazilians commit a record number of fouls in their World Cup history. The Colombian defender simply bundled into Neymar with a high knee and broke the Brazilian star’s vertebra, triggering a huge furore and the end of Brazil’s run at the World Cup. Pepe head-butt: Portugal had a nightmare start to the World Cup as Germany beat them 4-0 in their opening group stage match. While the Germans were certainly stronger that day, there’s no doubt Pepe’s ridiculous head-butt on Thomas Mueller, and subsequent red card and ban, added to Portugal’s woes.

Fred penalty: The opening match of the World Cup saw Fred take an almighty tumble in the box – the only problem is that there was no reason for him to tumble. Croatia went up through a Marcelo own-goal early on but this moment changed the course of the match. Robben dive: Arjen Robben was accused of diving in the dying minutes of their last 16 match against Mexico, winning a penalty in the process. Klaas Jan Huntelaar stepped up to score the penalty that took the Dutch into the last eight. Mascherano-Wijnaldum head-clash: This opens a can of dirty worms for FIFA. Javier Mascherano and Georginio Wijnaldum went for an aerial duel, the former coming off worse from it – stumbling to the ground seconds after the collision and looking completely dazed. He still played on. Should rules over head injuries change?