51 fouls were called by Spanish referee Carlos Carballo in Brazil's far too violent 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Colombia. Yet, only three yellow cards were shown, the first not coming until the 64th minute when the envelope of allowable offenses was pushed by Thiago Silva's jumping into the Colombian 'keeper as he attempted a clearance.

Before that, holding midfielder Fernandinho and the rest of his Brazilian teammates (not one of which left the match without committing at least one foul) had their way with Colombia's James Rodriguez, brutalizing the young superstar more than anyone else on the pitch.

Their strategy was as obvious as it was effective, and the official in charge allowed it to happen by not booking anyone. This created an atmosphere on the pitch in Fortaleza that would be best described as inmates running the asylum.

Players committed increasingly rougher challenges, seemingly testing out Carballo to see how far they could go without having their names written down. Things escalated quickly.

Fernandinho hacked down James near the touchline. Cristian Zapata responded by literally kicking Hulk as he ran up the pitch. The referee constantly failed to intervene in a manner consistent with the fouls being committed.

No one wants a match to be about the referee, but everyone wants an official to maintain some semblance of control, protect the players on the pitch and ensure that the fairest match possible is played. That didn't happen on Friday.

It was due to the atmosphere created by Carballo that in the 88th minute, Neymar was kneed in the back by defender Juan Zuniga.

That's not to mitigate blame for Zuniga, whose menacing challenge robs fans of the best team's most attacking player in what to this point had been a wonderful World Cup. It's to point out that if Carballo had disciplined players in the manner he should have from the beginning of the match, this foul at the end doesn't happen.

He let the game get away from him, and now, the talent of one of the best young stars of the tournament has gotten away from all of us. That's not a fair exchange for anyone, least of all Neymar.