Maybe Neymar and his teammates can make the Olympics a success for Brazil after all.
Advertisement
Its 6-0 semifinal win Wednesday over Honduras kept Brazil in pursuit of the Olympic gold medal – the one important worldwide prize the only five-time World Cup champions have never won.
Neymar took a tumble in the proces, s but he was not the only thing to fall as his goal broke the record for the fastest goal scored in the history of Olympics, adding another feather to the forward’s already illustrious career. A sea of yellow serenaded the 24-year-old with “Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole, Ney-mar!”
“We have found a good balance”, Brazil coach Rogerio Micale said. Neymar is a guy who has a gift for playing football, who enchants.
“We didn’t play well”. He is living through a positive period as opposed to a week ago, when there was a lot of demands and pressure on him.
Salles was wearing the jersey of former Brazilian player “Hulk” and dancing in the concourse afterward alongside his pals as samba music filtered through the stadium. But for Brazil it offers the opportunity of football redemption. We have to be grateful for Neymar. “And when you have a star like Neymar, you have to be grateful, because he is the type of player that pushes Brazil to a higher level”. The sun was scorching, as was the heat on the Brazilian players. Two of the country’s best chances remaining to reach the top of the podium were competing Wednesday, with the men’s soccer team in the afternoon and Agatha and Barbara scheduled to go for gold in beach volleyball just before midnight.
Brazil was the main favorite to win the Olympic gold, the only significant trophy it hasn’t won in soccer. This is a country where even dogs wear Neymar jerseys, where one need not watch a game on TV to know when Brazil scores because the collective fan roar and auto horn honking serves as play-by-play. The five-time World Cup champions have won the silver medal three times and the bronze twice.
Japan’s Kaori Icho has become the first wrestler in Olympic history to win four gold medals. The Brazilian first division’s top-scorer, he was uncharacteristically wasteful in front of goal in the goalless draws with South Africa and Iraq and admitted he was finding it hard to sleep at night.
Neymar missed the 7-1 humiliation as he suffered two broken vertebrae in his back at the end of a brutal World Cup quarter-final win against Colombia.
The Germans absolutely outclassed the Olympic Eagles on Wednesday in winning 2-0 as they set up a final with hosts Brazil.
It didn’t take long for the Barcelona player to put the hosts ahead. The keeper rushed out, but Neymar pounced on the ball, and it ricocheted off Lopez into the net.
Neymar got the worst of the collision and stayed on the ground. Luan made it 5-0 in the 77th minute.
Neymar got his second goal of the match with a 92nd-minute penalty after Palacios fouled Luan. Honduras striker Alberth Elis had tied that mark in a game against Portugal in the group stage at the Rio de Janeiro Games. Wednesday was a different story.
The improved play of the soccer team and the beach volleyball tandem’s run come as welcome respites for the beleaguered Brazilians, who have seen the Rio Games deal with distraction, disorganization and tragedy for the last two weeks. “I am sure they will help us even more on Saturday”. “Unfortunately, we made a mortal mistake for the fourth goal and lost our composure”. It would be the first Olympic medal for Honduras.
Milestones of the day from the Rio Olympics for Wednesday, August 17.
“We don’t want to disappoint the fans”, Brazil midfielder Renato Augusto said.
Advertisement
“We do not have to pick one opponent over the other [in the final]. We must keep aspiring to reach our goal”. We realize this is not enough.
