Neymar leads Brazil into gold-medal game

Neymar left Brazil in 2013 as a 21-year-old and is one of three senior players on Brazil’s team; Olympic rules require the remaining players to be 23 or younger.

But if Neymar finally leads Brazil to Olympic gold, the media will surely change its tone and probably even lead the cheers.

“I think we are arriving at the final stretch very strong but the next match is a new story”. For everything that has happened there, it’s a special place for us.

After a slow start, Brazil have grown into the competition and with the backing of an entire nation behind them they’ll be favourites to reach the last two.

“Neymar is a monster”, Brazil coach Rogerio Micale said.

The Paris Saint-Germain man was picked out by Neymar’s corner kick, bobbled his first touch but still had enough time to smash his right-footed shot past Lopez as the Honduras defence stood by and watched. Should Brazil win the gold, it will cap off a sensational run by the home team, giving the fans in green and yellow something to cheer about after a rough few years for the country’s soccer teams. Neymar stepped up to the spot and calmly sent Lopez the other way to complete the rout and set the stage for Saturday’s final.

Led by Neymar and promising youngsters Gabriel Jesus and Gabigol, Brazil is playing in its third-straight Olympic semifinal, and seventh overall.

Neymar was in the side that was shocked 2-1 by Mexico at London 2012.

But, with a win over Algeria and a draw against Argentina, Honduras qualified for the quarterfinals where it faced Group C victor South Korea.

“An Olympic semifinal to be played in a stadium with 80,000 people is a motivation for everyone”.

Many expected Brazil and Germany to still be alive in the semifinals, although they each took weird paths to get to this point. There’s a lot of demands on him but we have to respect him. “I’m looking for that player to mark him”. The African squad won Group B thanks to wins over Japan and Sweden before easily defeating Denmark 2-0 in the quarterfinals.

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