Neymar steps down as Brazil captain after Olympic triumph

While the gold medal game ended well for Brazil, providing a modicum of revenge for the 7-1 loss to Germany at the 2014 World Cup – a match in which Neymar didn’t feature due to injury – the team endured a hard tournament. Brazil won the gold medal on penalty shoot-out.

The home of “Jogo Bonito” is considered by many to be the most powerful soccer nation in the world.

Neymar now adds Olympic gold to his own considerable list of honors, which includes La Liga and Champions League titles with Barça, a Confederations Cup with Brazil and a Copa Libertadores with Santos. In the men’s tournament teams scored 104 goals in 32 matches, good for a 3.25 goals per game average.

Brazil are sixth in the South American World Cup qualifying group – outside the qualifying places for Russian Federation 2018 – and were dumped out of the Copa America at the group stage by Peru in June. There were times when the forward looked emboldened by the captain’s armband, too, although it’s clear by his decision to relinquish the responsibility he wasn’t entirely comfortable with it.

The future is Gabriel Jesus and Gabigol, both 19-year-old strikers. Not many accomplished players take part in the Olympics, but Neymar’s participation was all out of National fervour.

Since that devastating defeat against Germany two years ago, Brazil lost in the quarterfinals at the 2015 Copa America and then, playing without Neymar, was eliminated in the group stage at this year’s Copa America – the South American continent’s biggest tournament.

This allowed Brazil to win its first-ever Olympic gold medal in football, though many see it as the team making up for their failure to win the World Cup at home in 2014, by beating the squad that dealt them one of their most embarrassing losses ever. He even wears the No. 10 made famous by Pele.

The penalties went back and forth with neither club getting the edge until Brazil’s goalkeeper Weverton de Silva deflected the fifth penalty shot by Germany’s Nils Peterson.

The celebration won’t last long, with a pair of World Cup qualifiers coming up against Ecuador and Colombia.

Former captain, it should be said, as shortly after the historic triumph the Barcelona ace gave up the armband and asked that coach Tite choose another skipper.

“I can’t begin to describe my feelings”. “The seed has been planted”.