Brazil team before their match vs Colombia.
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Neymar scored twice, including the fastest goal in Olympic history, as Brazil set up a blockbuster revenge showdown with Germany for Olympic gold by thrashing Honduras 6-0 on Wednesday.
Two years after the humiliating home defeat, Brazil faces Germany’s under-23 team on Saturday with a chance to win the soccer gold medal for the first time.
Brazil’s Gabriel Jesus celebrates scoring in the 6-0 victory over Honduras.
“That was the World Cup, this is the Olympic team”, Brazil coach Rogerio Micale said.
Maybe Neymar and his teammates can make the Olympics a success for Brazil after all.
“Hey Germany, just wait, your turn is coming up!” a fired-up fan base chanted.
Brazil is the only team with a clean sheet at the Olympic tournament, outscoring opponents 12-0 after five matches. It allows Germany coach Horst Hrubesch the chance to retire on a high. “Let’s do our final match and concentrate on our game”. At London 2012, Brazil and Neymar were defeated 2-0 in the final by Mexico.
Right after the game’s opening kick-off, the Brazilian soccer superstar Neymar intercepted an ugly pass and got just one touch to guide it toward the goal before crashing into Honduras goalkeeper Luis López. “We are focused only on playing well and winning this gold medal”.
Germany have happier memories of the Maracana as they followed up their semi-final win by beating Lionel Messi’s Argentina to win the World Cup there two years ago.
For years now the senior side have played colourless football, they have been fearful, weighed down by the huge expectations every Brazil team carry on their shoulders.
“We are impatient. We think we have to start at zero as soon as something goes wrong”.
“It is a shame, but we don’t deserve to be in the final playing like that”, he said. “It is a different time, different game, different players”.
Defender Matthias Ginter is the only World Cup victor in the German Olympic squad.
DOMINATED – For the third straight Olympics, China has taken home every table tennis gold medal. “There has been a lot of pressure on him, but he is not your average player”.
Also parading the stars and stripes were long-jumpers Tianna Bartoletta and Brittney Reese, who finished 1-2; steeplechaser Evan Jager, who won silver earlier in the day; and Tori Bowie, who added a 200-meter bronze to her silver in the 100. Brazil looks to level their record in an global stage.
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Germany was playing in the Olympics for the first time since 1988, when USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann was on the team. In men’s singles, the two greatest players of their era – China’s Lin Dan and Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei – moved into the semi-finals where they will clash in a rematch of the last two Olympic finals, where Lin beat Lee for gold both times. It has never won the gold.
