Lopez tackled Neymar and brought him to the ground, but he was not quick enough to stop the ball rolling cleanly into the net.
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Whilst the spectre of Germany’s 7-1 win two years ago will hang over the final, not one player who took to the field in Belo Horizonte will take part in Saturday’s showpiece.
It started even before the opening ceremony and will come to a head on Sunday morning (Singapore time) with a pair of teams the organisers perhaps would have been hoping for when they planned the tournament for the 2016 Olympic Games here in Rio.
It will be a replay of the World Cup 2014 semi-final when Germany shocked the world to beat Brazil 7-1.
The hosts will be there, having secured their spot following a 6-0 thrashing of Honduras in Wednesday’s semi-final played on an unusually warm winter day in Rio that saw the boys in yellow produce a performance befitting the sunshine they were bathed in.
Thanks to a stray pass from a Honduras defender, Neymar found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper in the first 15 seconds of the match.
“I would say, in the good sense, that Neymar is a monster”, Brazil coach Rogerio Micale said.
Janine Beckie of Canada holds the record for the fastest goal in the womens Olymoics after scoring after just 20 seconds against Australia, also in this year’s tournament. “We know that if we keep playing well back there and don’t concede any goals, the attack will guarantee us the victories”.
Paris Saint-Germain defender Marquinhos took advantage of some terrible Honduras marking to make it 4-0 six minutes into the second-half. “We are only thinking about working as hard as we have been until now so that we can win the gold medal”. “We have been doing well both on offense and on defense, and that’s key for a team that wants to win a competition”.
The final is more important to Brazil than Germany.
“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”. He is living through a positive period as opposed to a week ago, when there was a lot of demands and pressure on him.
Neymar will have to keep the magic going to allow Brazil to finally hoist the only worldwide title that has so far eluded it.
But soccer-mad Brazilians were delighted, chanting “Neymar!” during much of the match – including when he netted a penalty at 90 minutes to put the icing on the cake.
Brazil had made three previous finals (1984, 1988 and 2012) in the men’s competition but lost all three.
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Germany will enjoy plenty of possession and if Brazil can not get in front early, then it will be interesting to see how the hosts react.
