Nevertheless, there is an epic quality to Saturday’s encounter because even if men’s football at the Olympics is something of a lie, it is a useful one for two reasons.
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After Neymar, who played in the 2-1 final loss against Mexico four years ago, gave Brazil an early lead, they never looked like losing.
And gain a small measure of revenge.
Olympic gold is the only football honour to have escaped five-time world champions Brazil.
“This is the Neymar that we like to see on the field”, said 38-year-old Brazilian fan Andre Gustavo Correa, speaking outside the Maracana.
“We will not lack fight”. At last count, there were more than 600 Brazilians employed in the top leagues in Europe, where the money is good and the living is much easier than back home.
Almost three hours before the semi-final against Honduras, Brazil’s football cathedral was crowded and, with an hour to go to kick-off, it was a heaving, singing mass of almost 78,000 souls.
Neymar had broken an Olympic world record after scoring the fastest goal in the competition’s history, Federation Internationale de Football Association confirmed.
Brazil’s Neymar celebrates after scoring 15 seconds into a 6-0 semifinal victory over Honduras. There’s been more than enough to boo these past few years of repeatedly disappointing play, poor management of the team and Brazilian soccer generally, and rampant corruption.
Where Brazil’s women had failed to find the net in 120 minutes in their semi-final against Sweden the previous day, also in Maracana, the men led 3-0 after half an hour and could easily have scored more than the eventual half-dozen had they wanted. Brazil won the match 6-0.
Coach Rogerio Micale, on the brink of hero status, stayed for almost an hour. What interests us culturally is the gold medal, because we haven’t won it yet.
Micale, while pleased with his young Brazilian squad, cautioned against over-confidence, pointing out that all it was assured of, at this point, was a silver medal.
“Hey, Germany, just wait, your time will come”, echoed around the stadium as the Selecao hit goal after goal to book their shot at redemption this weekend.
The German system is the envy of all and the local game is humming along nicely.
Neymar, left, and Gabriel Jesus, right, have scored six goals between them in Brazil’s past three games. “And when you have a star like Neymar, you have to be grateful, because he is the type of player that pushes Brazil to a higher level”.
After three years away, Brazil returned to the sacred Maracana on Wednesday with a place in the Rio 2016 Olympics final on the line.
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Neymar is a monster. Neymar is a guy who has a gift for playing football, who enchants. And he refused to be cowed by Brazil’s vast wealth of soccer talent, drawn from a population of 202 million, or its storied excellence on the pitch. “Without him playing the way he is playing, I don’t think this team would have been in the final”.
