By Mark Szczuka
There is debate among some people that certain sports should not be included
in the Olympics because they have their own more prestigious events. These
sports include tennis, golf (reintroduced to the Olympics for the first time
since 1904 in Rio) and of course football. As a result these sports
typically attract less attention at the Olympics than others. But when you
have the ingredients of a football-mad nation such as Brazil playing in a
final at their famous home, the Maracanã, with the prospect of revenge
against a team who so badly humiliated them 7-1 in the semi final of the
World Cup only two years ago then you certainly have an event that merits
high interest.
Neymar with a world class free kick that changed the Match tempo immediately
None of the players who played in the semi final in 2014 featured in the
Olympic Final on Saturday evening. This was partly down to the restrictions
for men’s football at the Olympics with only 3 players above 23 being
allowed to feature in each team’s squad. Indeed, looking through both team’s
squads, almost all of the players are not household names on the
international stage – the notable exception being Brazilian and Barcelona
striker Neymar. Fittingly Neymar, who missed the 7-1 defeat after being
stretchered off in the quarter final against Columbia, rose to the occasion
and scored Brazil’s opener through a superb free kick after 27 minutes, much
to the delight of the noisy 64,000 home fans. This was in stark contrast to
the almost silence that greeted Germany’s equaliser in the 59th minute,
other than the waving of a small scattering of German flags around the
stadium.
The game moved into extra time and after Germany missed their 5th penalty
(saved by Weverton from Petersen) up stepped Neymar to score the winning
penalty and give Brazil the Gold medal (one of only 6 they won at the
Olympics) as well as taking a big step in the healing process of recovering
from that famous 7-1 semi-final defeat two years ago.
