The victory also gave Brazil a measure of revenge for their humiliating 7-1 defeat by Germany in the semi-finals on the 2014 World Cup on home soil – a game Neymar had to watch from the sidelines due to injury.
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It was not surprising that the Brazilian football authorities in allowed Neymar to skip the Copa America so he could be part of the Olympics.
Brazil had lost the Olympic final three times – in 1984, 1988 and 2012 – but they finally got the gold they craved on a dramatic night at the Maracana stadium in which they outplayed the Germans but were saved three times by the woodwork.
From the free kick just outside the penalty area, however, Neymar fired the ball on target with deadly precision and it went in off the underside of the crossbar.
Remember, too, how Neymar, without doubt one of the five best players in the world, won it all.
Germany’s Maximilian Meyer tied the score around the 60-minute mark, finishing off a sequence of crisp passes – from the center forward to the right side, then zipping back to the middle – with a clean shot that eluded Brazil’s goalkeeper, Weverton.
Brazil’s Neymar cries as he lies on the pitch to celebrate after scoring the decisive penalty kick during the final match of the men’s Olympic football tournament between Brazil and Germany at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday Aug. 20, 2016.
The stop set the stage for Neymar, as if scripted.
Neymar was instrumental as a Brazil captain.
Goalkeeper Weverton was full of praise for the boy turn legend saying: “God has blessed me”.
He continued: “I can’t begin to describe my feelings”.
He just expressed gratitude to his teammates, family, and friends who were there by his team during the most hard moments.
“It wasn’t easy. I don’t know what else to say, I’m just really happy”.
Earlier in the tournament, when the eventual gold-winning Brazilian men’s team and star Neymar were struggling, some fans crossed out his name on their No. 10 jerseys and wrote in hers in magic marker. He did not elaborate.
“I’m Brazilian, with much pride and much love”, a chant from Antunes’ group proclaimed in Portuguese.
Neymar scored in the 27th minute as Brazil took a 1-0 lead in Saturday’s match.
The gold medal remained the only global honour evading Brazil, and the 24-year-old clinched it with the winning penalty in a 5-4 shootout victory over Germany.
How is Neymar celebrating his goal in the Olympic final?
For Brazil, this was a win to savor.
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“We had this discussion and it wasn’t public at the time before. Brazilian football is not dead”, said Brazil coach Rogerio Micale.
