Surely, Neymar was one of the players in the past Olympics, and he wants to show forth that he can lead his team into a triumphant way.
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The Manchester City player Gabriel Jesus had the best chance of the match to score, but he missed an open shot in the 69 minute by hitting the goalpost.
That sums up Brazil’s night.
The South African team held on for more than half an hour against a strong Brazil side, and Mvala praised his compatriots for taking the game to Brazil.
Neymar insists Brazil never expected their challenge for the gold medal to be straightforward, but conceded that the result will be a hard one to forget.
In Rio de Janeiro, Portugal defeated two-time Olympic champion Argentina 2-0 with goals by Paciencia in the 66th and Pite in the 84th in front of 45,000 fans at the Olympic Stadium, the vast majority cheering for Portugal.
Meanwhile, Iraq settled for the same 0-0 draw with powerhouse Denmark in the opening game on Thursday in Brasilia, which had surprised football pundits as the Danish squad is predicted to advance in the quarterfinals.
Brazil were forced to wait until just before the half-hour mark for their first meaningful effort on goal, and predictably it came from Neymar as his swerving strike was kept out by Itumeleng Khune.
Neymar flashed a shot inches too high three minutes later, then played through Gabriel Barbosa, only for Khune to make another good save.
They had also failed to provide joy to millions of their countrymen, for whom football is religion and who expect their national Olympic team to deliver success, two years after a humiliating 7-1 defeat by Germany in the semi-finals of the World Cup on home soil.
Striker Keagan Dolly is the captain for the U23 and South Africa will be hoping to use the pace of Mothiba to catch Brazil on the back foot. “And it means we will be more focused in the future”.
South Africa began the game on a very confident note, ensuring the hosts were not allowed to dominate possession as they created several scoring chances in the first 45 minutes, but somehow could not find the back of the net.
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The lead once again lasted less than a minute after Takumi Minamino picked up a brilliant through ball and was in on goal to give Japan their second and level the score at 2-2.
