Brazil face another embarrassing exit from a major football tournament on home soil, after their star player Neymar slumbered through a second 0-0 draw of Rio 2016 against Iraq on Sunday. Neymar fans in the U.S. can watch their hero in action on NBC Olympics and NBC Sports Live Extra.
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However, the Barcelona star was eclipsed.
Brazil drew a blank in their opener against South Africa last Thursday, with Neymar struggling to make an impact on the match.
But Micale said Brazil need to reflect on the state of the national game rather debating whether to strip Neymar of the captaincy. “We apologise to the fans, to the people of Brasilia who filled the stadium to support the team, but we didn’t manage to give them a response”.
Valor Economico called it Brazil’s worst performance at the games since 1972, and noted that in 1972 the team at least scored four goals in its first two games.
A 2-1 win versus Algeria kept Argentina’s hopes of advancing from the group stage alive and well following an opening-match loss to Portugal.
AS Roma forward Sadiq Umar scored a first-half victor for the African champions, who won gold and silver at Atlanta ’96 and Beijing ’08 respectively, to help them scale through after winning their first two group games at the event.
Despite having 77 percent of possession in the game and 20 shots at goal, the Selecao trio of Neymar, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Barbosa failed to find the back of the net.
Marta got the third from the penalty spot just seconds before half time and then scored Brazil’s fourth with 10 minutes remaining when she slotted home from eight yards after playing a fortunate one-two off a Swedish defender.
Neither the men nor the women have won Olympic gold at soccer, the game that is by far Brazil’s most popular sport.
Mexico are second in Group C, level on four points with South Korea after they were pegged back by Serge Gnabry’s late equaliser.
Also last weekend, Canada beat Zimbabwe 3-1 to climb to the top place in Group F. Brazil and Iraq are tied with two points each, two less than Denmark. They sit on two points and trail Denmark by two going into their final match Wednesday.
Brazil’s Neymar stands on the field at the end of a group A match of the men’s Olympic football tournament between Brazil and Iraq at the National Stadium in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016.
Meanwhile, Nigeria are through to the quarters after beating Sweden 1-0 in Manaus, and Portugal are close after a 2-1 win over Honduras.
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Defending champions Mexico needed a second-half fightback to stave off one of the biggest shocks in Olympic football history to beat Fiji 5-1.
