Brazil forward, Neymar has set a new world record at the Rio Olympic Games, Fifa has confirmed.
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Brazil started the day 16th in the medal standings, with only three gold medals in the first 11 days of the games.
Honduras knocked the ball back from the kick-off, but Neymar caught Johnny Palacios in possession on the edge of the box and bravely challenged the keeper to bundle the ball into the net. It was the fastest goal in men’s Olympic history, and Brazil led 3-0 going into halftime to cruise into the gold medal game.
The Barcelona attacker landed awkwardly after his goal and there were fears the Brazil captain would be forced off, but he was eventually able to continue after undergoing treatment. “It helped us break the game open and it made everything easier”.
Fittingly, in their best performance of the tournament, Luan converted a fine team goal for Brazil’s fifth as Gabriel Barbosa slipped in Felipe Anderson to cross low to the far post. Honduras striker Alberth Elis had tied that mark in a game against Portugal in the group stage at the Rio de Janeiro Games. Between Neymar’s bookends, Gabriel Jesus added a brace of his own. Janine Beckie took only 20 seconds to score for Canada against Australia in the women’s tournament in Rio. In what has been a controversial Olympic year, this would be a monumental victory.
“Any scheme will fall apart when you concede a goal with 15 seconds because of your own mistake”, Honduras coach Jorge Luis Pinto said.
After the match, some Honduran players were taking photos with Neymar on the field.
The hosts endured a hard start to the tournament as they were held to 0-0 draws by South Africa and Iraq, but have been firing on all cylinders ever since – seeing off Denmark and Colombia – and they were once more in impressive form on Wednesday. He quickly returned, and after his team scored four more goals, he brought the total up to 6 with one final score on a penalty kick.
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But Neymar and the rest of the squad picked up the pace just in time, beating Denmark 4-0 in the final group match and eliminating Colombia 2-0 in the quarterfinals.
