The Barcelona forward lived up to his billing as the team’s star player and on-pitch leader, scoring Brazil’s one goal and netting the winning penalty kick that saw Brazil edge Germany in a packed gold medal match at Rio’s iconic Maracana Stadium.
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Although the Olympic tournament features under-23 teams, Brazil believe their win can signal a new beginning for the country’s football which has been bedevilled by chaotic administration at home and poor results at senior level.
The hosts defeated Germany 5-4 on penalty shoot-out after the teams remained tied 1-1 following the final whistle.
For Brazil, the win goes some way to eradicating the painful memories of their home World Cup two years ago when they were humiliated 7-1 by Germany in the semi-finals.
For nearly the first half the score was 0-0 till Neymar broke the tie with a brilliant set piece goal in the thirtieth minute to put Brazil up 1-0.
Apart from the Max Meyer goal that cancelled out Neymar’s free kick, they hit the bar three times in the first half, and Julian Brandt posed a repeated threat in attack, including with an extra-time volley attempt. Weverton saved Nils Peteresen’s spot-kick before Neymar scored the golden penalty. The Brazilian football federation took the Olympic tournament as seriously as ever, bringing Neymar and many talented youngsters that are expected to be in the main squad in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. At one match, fans cheered her by chanting “Better Than Neymar”.
“I do not take it as a burden, it is you [the media] who put it on me”, Neymar said in an interview with SporTV after the game.
Germany settled for the silver medal and was denied gold in the first Olympics for which it qualified since the country’s reunification in 1990. Having been jeered by the crowd and blasted by the media, the Barcelona frontman turned Brazil’s fortune in this competition with timely goals in the quarterfinal and the semifinal before playing the key role in Saturday’s final. “Say something to the people and to the football community, by doing something different”, Micale said. Brazilian football is not dead.
The gold makes up for disappointment with Brazil’s women’s team, which was beaten by Sweden and missed out on a medal by losing to Canada. It may not be as fashionable as a World Cup, but for the players and the local population, it was nothing less than winning one.
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The 24-year-old also announced that he no longer wished to continue as the Seleção’s captain, and said that he would ask the manager to appoint someone else. “I can’t describe my feelings right now”.
