Neymar scored after only 14 seconds – the fastest goal in Olympic football history – as Brazil thrashed Honduras 6-0 to reach the men’s final in Rio.
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Brazil’s Neymar celebrates at the end of a quarter-final match of the men’s Olympic football tournament against Colombia in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Saturday Aug. 13, 2016.
Brazil, who had booked their place in the semi-finals with a 2-0 win over Colombia in the last round, got their last four-clash at the Maracanã off to a ideal start after Neymar netted after just 15 seconds.
Serge Gnabry of Arsenal put the Germans ahead with an angled strike just before half-time and Matthias Ginter added a second with a commanding header from a corner 12 minutes into the second half. (Sweden beat the U.S.in the quarterfinal on Friday.) The men’s side will face Honduras on Wednesday.
This time, the crowd finished the game chanting “Brazil!”.
Neymar, the poster boy for the Games, finally got off the mark at the fourth attempt when he curled home from 25 yards out.
“Neymar is very young, has lots of responsibility, and became a star very early due to the quality he has”, Micale said.
Should the Selecao prevail over Honduras in the semis, we will be in store for a blockbuster gold-medal clash.
Victory takes Germany one step closer to a mouthwatering rematch with hosts Brazil in next Saturday’s final two years on from smashing the five-time world champions 7-1 on home soil at the 2014 World Cup.
The Selecao will now play the victor of the other semi-final game between Nigeria and Germany.
Neymar was even whipping the near capacity 78,000 crowd into a frenzy as he uncharacteristically crashed into tackles, with Brazil relieved from the burden of expectation that appeared to weigh heavy on the young squad early in the competition. The Brazil forward has now scored his first goal in the Rio Olympics.
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Nigeria arrived in Brazil just hours before their opening 5-4 win over Japan last week after being stranded for several days at their training base in Atlanta because the federation had not booked flight tickets in advance. “It was physical, tense…to play against Colombia is never easy because they are a great team”, said Paris Saint-Germain defender Marquinhos.
