Brazil held goalless in exciting opener

Host Brazil will take on South Africa in one of the men’s soccer tournament matches in Rio Olympics 2016 on Thursday, kick off time at 3:00 PM ET.

South Africa held Brazil to a 0-0 score, even after Mothobi Mvala took a 60th minute red card to set the hosts up for a win that would ultimately evade them. “We can’t single out Neymar”.

“I don’t know how many great Brazilians have played in the Olympics and not been able to win it”, he said.

The five-time World Cup champions won the silver three times, including in London four years ago when a team led by Neymar lost the final to Mexico.

Manchester City new capture, Gabriel Jesus, one of the most talked about players in the build-up towards the Games and Gabriel “Gabigol” Barbosa will join Neymar in the attack and the trio will certainly score goals. The sting of the loss will always be on the heart of those players, including Neymar, as they were expected to bring home the gold medal.

Other fairly recognisable players in the squad are Lazio’s Felipe Anderson, Barcelona’s Rafinha, and Paris Saint-Germain’s Marquinhos, all of whom are established players for their clubs and have been the subject of speculation regarding potential transfers this summer. We’ll face more difficulties yet.

Palmeiras are now third in the Campeonato Brasiliero Serie A, one point behind leaders Corinthians with 21 games remaining.

In the earlier games on Thursday, Honduras held on to beat Algeria, despite a late goal, in an exciting game that finished 3-2, while Iraq and Denmark also finished 0-0.

Both sides are looking to the future with Lionel Messi having announced his worldwide retirement with Argentina after three final losses and Portuguese hero Cristiano Ronaldo now 31.

Messi’s only honour at worldwide level came in the 2008 Olympics when he led a richly talented team including Angel di Maria, Sergio Aguero and Javier Mascherano to gold. Twelve women’s teams are in Brazil, along with 16 men’s sides.

Owen da Gamas charges, who played the last half-hour with 10 men, looked confident from the first whistle as they managed to settle earlier than the opposition. The Olympic soccer tournament is the only worldwide competition sanctioned by FIFA Brazil has never won.

Brazil coach Rogerio Micale defended his star and captain, citing rustiness, as Neymar had not been involved in competitive action since May 22 after skipping the Copa America Centenario in June. I enjoy playing football.