Neymar, Brazil waste no time blowing away Honduras in semis
RIO DE JANEIRO — The word in Portuguese is alegria. But among Brazilians, alegria isn't simply a word for happiness. It is a deep-seated cultural value.
And it returned to the Olympic host nation with Brazil's 6-0 rout of Honduras at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium on Wednesday, sending its men's soccer team to Saturday's gold-medal match, where Germany, a 2-0 victor over Nigeria, awaits.
Brazil scored just 15 seconds into the match, with Neymar exploiting a glaring defensive gaffe by Honduras. And the qualitative gulf between the teams grew more pronounced by the minute.
The lopsided victory, with Neymar tallying two goals and two assists, was exactly what Brazilians needed to restore a sense of pride in a Rio Olympics that has been dominated by alarms over virus and pollution, photos of acid-green pools and tales of thefts and muggings.
With Wednesday's scoring-at-will display, set to a backdrop of song and celebration among the announced crowd of 52,457 at the storied Maracana, the Olympic hosts are assured of a silver medal at worst. Better still, Brazil Coach Rogerio Micale believes his young soccer team is rounding into the form its soccer-loving compatriots expect after a plodding start to its Olympics campaign.
Opening with two scoreless draws, Brazil has now won its past three matches and scored 12 goals while surrendering none.
At the heart of its attack is Neymar, 24, the Barcelona forward who counts as one of the three exemptions permitted to each Olympic under-23 roster.
“In the good sense, I would call him a monster,” Micale said of Neymar, through a translator. “He has a love of playing football. He absolutely delights everyone with his talent.”
Though Brazil has won five World Cups and is widely credited with injecting beauty into a global game, it has never won Olympic gold in soccer. The 2012 London Olympics were a particular disappointment, ending with a loss to Mexico in the final.
But that was nothing compared to the humiliation of its 71 loss to Germany in the semifinals of the 2014 World Cup, which robbed all joy from the host nation.
“We apologize to all Brazilians,” defender David Luiz said that day, as Brazilian fans jeered their own.
Wednesday, there was nothing to apologize for.
Honduras Coach Jorge Luis Pinto knew the odds were stacked against the small Central American nation and its counter-attacking team, which had done remarkably well to reach the semifinals, finishing ahead of Argentina in group play and beating South Korea in the quarterfinals.
But Pinto reminded his players before Thursday's semifinal that “anything is possible,” alluding to Germany's throttling of Brazil two years earlier. And he refused to be cowed by Brazil's vast wealth of soccer talent, drawn from a population of over 200 million, or its storied excellence on the pitch.
“I am very respectful of Brazilian football, but today you can't win due to the supporters or the color of your shirt,” Pinto said, as he readied Honduras for the semifinal.
The respective national anthems had barely finished when Neymar scored the first goal after colliding with Honduran goalkeeper Luis Lopez. An operetta ensued, in which the Brazilian star writhed on the pitch and was carted off on a stretcher only to return minutes later and play on.
Brazil's Gabriel Jesus scored in the 26th minute and again nine minutes later, converting an artful pass from Neymar that put his team up 3-0 and earned hearty pats on the head.
It wasn't that Honduras didn't play defense; it simply couldn't corral Neymar.
Well before halftime, the party in the Maracana was full with song. Giant beach balls bounced around the stands. A chorus broke out. Yellow-shirted fans clapped, and samba drums pounded.
But not long after Brazil's fourth unanswered goal - a right-footed blast by Marquinhos, who doubled back to collect a well struck corner kick - the mood mellowed.