Neymar on Saturday scored his first goal of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, giving Brazil a 2-0 win over Colombia and a spot in the semi-finals of the men’s soccer tournament.
Neymar scored from a free-kick in the 12th minute, sending a right-footed shot through the wall and into the lower right corner of the net. Luan added the second in the 83rd at the Arena Corinthians with a shot from outside the area, keeping alive Brazil’s hopes of winning the soccer gold medal for the first time.
The game, a sort of rematch of the 2014 World Cup quarter-finals, was heated from the start, with hard fouls from both teams. The benches cleared just before halftime after a vicious foul committed by Neymar, who lashed out after being harassed by opponents nearly every time he touched the ball.
Photo: Reuters
“They really came playing hard, but we were able to overcome the pressure,” Brazil forward Luan said. “We were able to get the early goal and that helped us come away with a great victory.”
Brazil are next to face Honduras, who reached the Olympic semi-finals for the first time by defeating South Korea 1-0 at the Estadio Governador Magalhaes Pinto in Belo Horizonte.
In the other semi-final match, 1996 Olympic champions Nigeria are to face Germany, who are playing at the Olympic tournament for the first time since 1988 — when Jurgen Klinsmann was in the squad. Germany routed Portugal 4-0 in Brasilia, while Nigeria beat Denmark 2-0 in Salvador.
Neymar, one of the biggest stars at the Rio Games, was provoked just like he was the past two times the South American rivals met at the senior level, including in last year’s Copa America when Brazil lost 1-0 and the Barcelona striker was sent off.
Two years ago, Neymar’s World Cup ended after he took a knee to his back late in Brazil’s 2-1 win over Colombia. Brazil eventually lost to Germany 7-1 in the semi-finals.
Upset with the way Colombia were playing against him, Neymar went in hard against forward Andres Roa, a tackle that earned him a yellow card and ignited a brawl involving both benches.
After the altercation was over, Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir called both captains for a chat, and also talked to both coaches.
“Neymar is experienced and he did well controlling the game, but the whole team deserves credit for being able to keep it together and get the victory,” Luan said. “Now we have to focus on the next two games to be able to reach our dream.”
More than 41,000 fans were on hand at the Arena Corinthians, the stadium that opened the World Cup two years ago.
Brazil arrived at the Rio Games heavily favored to win the Olympic gold, which is the only significant trophy it has not won in soccer. The hosts struggled in scoreless draws against South Africa and Iraq, but recovered with a 4-0 win over Denmark to advance to the quarter-finals.
Brazil lost the 2012 London final to Mexico. The five-time world champions also finished second at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Games. The team won the bronze in 1996 and 2008.
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