Thiago Silva picked up his third yellow card of the World Cup on Saturday when Brazil faced The Netherlands in the third place game. Silva’s penalty came just two minutes into the match, and he’s very fortunate he wasn’t sent off with a red card.
Netherlands star Arjen Robben had a clear path to goal after receiving a beautiful through ball from Robin Van Persie. Rather than letting Robben walk it in, Silva dragged him down by the shoulder. The Netherlands was awarded a penalty kick and Van Persie converted it to give his team an early 1-0 lead.
Silva, who missed Brazil’s blowout loss to Germany after picking up his second yellow card, probably should have exited the World Cup having played just over a minute total in the last two games. The Brazilian captain’s untimely penalties really hurt his team in the tournament.
