The Barcelona forward struck with a free-kick in the 1-1 draw, before emphatically sealing Brazil’s first Olympic football gold with the winning penalty in a 5-4 shoot-out victory.
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The fact that Germany has a near-perfect record in the dreaded shootout, according to USA Today, could have been seen as an omen that the wait for Brazil’s first soccer gold at the Olympics would not end here.
For nearly the first half the score was 0-0 till Neymar broke the tie with a brilliant set piece goal in the thirtieth minute to put Brazil up 1-0.
But Neymar took the pressure off of the nervous Maracana crowd when he delivered a perfectly placed free kick past Germany keeper Timo Horn to open the scoring in the 27th minute.
After eight flawless kicks, Nils Petersen had the misfortune of seeing his shot saved by Weverton.
They even brought Neymar, one of three overage players permitted in what is an under 23 tournament, to Rio instead of the more prestigious Copa America after his club Barcelona refused to allow him to play in both competitions. And they did it with a lot of help from one of their best and most recognizable players – Neymar.
While Neymar didn’t disclose his reasons for stepping down he did say “now my critics will have to shut up” according to ESPN FC.
The win boosted the spirits of a country that has been dealing with a recession, political turmoil, health scares and rampant crime – not to mention the lingering effects of a 7-1 rout against Germany in the 2014 World Cup.
Italy had been more than twice as efficient as Brazil in spiking but their errors proved costly with their patchy display summed up by Zaytsev ploughing his serve into a team-mate on set point. “Brazilian football is not dead”, said Brazil coach Rogerio Micale.
Earlier, China’s Chen Long inflicted more Olympic heartache on Lee Chong Wei with a convincing win in the men’s badminton singles final – consigning the Malaysian to his third straight silver medal. The Americans, ranked No. 1 in the world, were coming off a triumphant victory in the Women’s World Cup last summer. It was only after the bronze medal was hung around her neck did she reveal that her father had passed away two months before the games.
Brazil can put to rest it’s demons they have beat their might foe the German soccer team.
“I really don’t have words to describe this, it doesn’t matter if it’s the World Cup or Euros, this is what you have earned through your hard work over weeks and months”.
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“It’s part of the Brazilian party”, said Zaytsev, whose Russian parents were a professional volleyball player father and competitive swimmer mother.
