Brazil enter men’s football final; to face Germany for title

It didn’t take long for Brazil to breach the incredibly porous Honduran backline for the first time, with Neymar taking just 14 seconds after kick-off to open the scoring…

Germany held off Nigeria 2-0 in the second of two men’s Olympic football semifinals Wednesday to set up a gold medal showdown with the Brazilians on Saturday.

The Germans scored five goals in the first half – including four in a six-minute span – each adding more and more pain to the Brazilian crowd who packed in the Mineirão stadium in Belo Horizonte hoping to celebrate their team going to the final.

However, it was Manchester City’s new £27-million ($36-million, 31-million euros) wonder kid Gabriel Jesus who piled on the pain for Honduras with two more goals before the break. “This is the Olympic team”, Micale told a media conference.

It will be a replay of the World Cup 2014 semi-final when Germany shocked the world to beat Brazil 7-1.

Nigeria won gold at the Atlanta ’96 Olympics.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Despite all the talk at the Olympics about Brazil’s talented strikers, it’s the defense that’s holding the team together as the host tries to win the soccer gold medal for the first time. “We will give our best to win the gold”.

Many of the Selecao’s fans have not and can not forget the 7-1 hammering dished out by the Germans at the 2014 World Cup semi-final in Belo Horizonte.

Such confidence is born from that exhilarating attacking display against a helpless Honduras, whose squad of 18 feature only two players who ply their trade overseas. “It is a different time with different players”, Micale said.

Gifted right back Zeca, from Brazilian club Santos, where Neymar used to play, helps both on offense and defense, while 22-year-old Douglas Santos, who has played for small clubs in Spain and Italy, is solid on the left flank. “Everything is in our favour as we are at home in Brazil”, he added.

“That was the World Cup, this is the Olympic team”, Brazil coach Rogerio Micale said.

Gabriel Jesus put his own terrible start to the Olympics behind him with two smartly-taken goals after 25 and 34 minutes, each time slicing the Honduras apart with exciting dashes in from the left.

GERMANY 2, NIGERIA 0 (at Sao Paulo) – Lukas Klostermann and Nils Peterson scored to send Germany into the gold-medal match.

The 25-year-old is the overwhelming favourite to add a gold in Rio to the silver she won in London four years ago, with a 2016 time that is almost a second faster than her closest rivals.

Brazil had made three previous finals (1984, 1988 and 2012) in the men’s competition but lost all three.

Neymar arrived as one of the biggest stars of the Rio de Janeiro Games after skipping the Copa America to take on the responsibility of leading Brazil at its home Olympics.

The captain of the Olympic team, Neymar, started the match with a bang as he stole the ball from an opposition defender and bundled it over the line after just 15 seconds had passed on the clock.