Napoli back Colombia's Zuniga over Neymar challenge

"Napoli regrets the injury Neymar suffered that will prevent him playing in the semi-final (later on Tuesday) against Germany," the Italian club said on their website.

"Best wishes to the Brazilian champion for a speedy recovery," they added.

"At the same time, the club expresses its solidarity with Zuniga, who has come under ferocious criticism and received threats of all kinds due to a foul that was unfortunate due to its consequences but not malicious."

Napoli noted that Zuniga had not been punished for the challenge by the referee of the World Cup quarter-final, which Brazil won 2-1, and had later been cleared by FIFA's Disciplinary Committee.

(Writing by Iain Rogers, editing by Amlan Chakraborty)