Neymar hands in the armband after captaining Brazil to Olympic gold

Goals from both the Brazilian Captain Neymar and his German counterpart Maximilliam Meyer proved decisive for both countries as the encounter ended 1-1 in regulation and extra time.

Max Meyer had cancelled out the former captain’s opener to force a shoot-out, in which Nils Petersen had his spot-kick saved by Weverton. Neymar took his turn to notch the title clinching goal and drove the 78,000 full-house crowd wild.

Germany won their first ever Olympic gold medal in women’s football on Friday when they turned in a superior second half performance to beat Sweden 2-1 at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

After playing brilliantly in the World Cup, Neymar watched from the sidelines as his team were beaten 7-1 by Germany in the semis.

South Africa’s Caster Semenya completed a convincing victory in the 800m to win her first Olympic gold in 1:55.28.

“Brazil could have won (gold) medals in everything but if it hadn’t been in football then nothing would have counted”, said jubilant fan Leila Lopes da Silva, to summarise the mood of a jubilant nation.

The long wait for Brazil’s first soccer gold is finally over.

Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi took silver in 1:56.49 with Kenya’s Margaret Wambui claiming bronze in 1:56.89.

As the team stood atop the medal podium, gold draped around their necks, tears streamed down the faces of fans as all of Maracana Stadium joined in belting out the national anthem. It was the final Olympic game for Tamika Catchings, who is retiring after the WNBA season.

Brazil’s inability to medal was heartbreaking for Marta, the talented five-time Federation Internationale de Football Association world player of the year, who was finally getting the attention she has deserved from her native country.

Pele, arguably Brazil’s greatest footballer, described the country’s historic first Olympic men’s football triumph as the “perfect ending” to the Rio Games.

Neymar has won the Champions League with Barcelona, the Copa Libertadores when at Santos and the 2013 Confederations Cup with the national team.

Neymar was given the captain’s armband in 2014 after the FIFA World Cup by the then Brazil manager Dunga.

Brazil, though, know all too well that such emotion is not always enough and Germany fired a warning shot in the 10th minute, with Julian Brandt curling a attractive strike that rattled both the crossbar and partisan crowd.

Goalkeeper Weverton said: “The gold is ours, but it belongs to God”.

Memories of Neymar’s golden goal will sustain his countrymen for as long the game retains the most special of places in their hearts.

Has Neymar made the right decision by stepping down as Brazi captain?

“I think we have a very good generation of players and I think that they can contribute a lot”, Micale said.