Saturday’s gold medal match offered a shot at redemption and proved the defining moment of the hosts’ Games, with Neymar, ruled out of 2014’s meeting through injury, scoring the decisive penalty as Germany were overcome 5-4 in the shootout that followed an intense 1-1 draw at the magnificent Maracana.
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Most the 63,707 fans held their collective breaths as they watched the Barcelona star who grew up in a factory town east of Sao Paulo kiss the ball and place it at the spot.
All the troubles were forgotten when Neymar’s kick sailed into the net.
But as the nation anxious about another clash with Germany, you got the sense that their Games success didn’t really matter if Brazil could not produce gold in the men’s football.
At the Olympics, Neymar was one of three overage exceptions for Brazil in a tournament for under-23 teams and served as the team’s captain. The U.S. medal haul also included Matthew Centrowitz winning the 1,500-meters – the first American to take gold in the event in more than 100 years. Now he is back in their hearts.
While Neymar has established himself as undoubtedly one of the best players in the world and won the Champions League and two La Liga titles with Barcelona, his success on the pitch has been overshadowed by off-field difficulties.
“That’s it. Now they’ll (the critics) will have to eat their words”.
“It was an honor to be captain, but from today I stop being captain”.
Before the national anthems had been sung, the stadium reverberated to the sound of one man’s name.
In the 25th minute he was upended by Sven Bender, then fouled again a minute later.
The scores remained level as extra-time came and went, but Die Mannschaft would not secure silverware at the ground that witnessed both their 2014 World Cup triumph and women’s gold the previous day.
In honour of the retiring sprinting great, Neymar even adopted the “lightning bolt” celebration, whilst chants of “ole, ole, ole, Neymar” rang around Rio’s most iconic arena.
It looked as if the flawless script was being written for the host nation but the second half was a tougher affair as Germany asserted themselves and equalized.
If anybody thought the Germans would be anticipated by the “home” crowd, they would be mistaken.
It was all in contrast to the start of the tournament when his fitness, leadership abilities and lifestyle had all been questioned. Neymar had given the hosts the lead midway through the first session with a wonderfully taken free-kick, but the Germans hit back on the hour mark through skipper Maximilian Meyer.
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The Germany attacks continued after the break, and in the 59th minute the Maracana was silenced as the game’s other captain Meyer expertly converted Jeremy Toljan’s low cross into the bottom corner.
