Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Brazil Olympic coach Rogerio Micale described star forward Neymar as a “monster” who is too often criticised after inspiring the hosts into Saturday’s gold medal match with a 6-0 thrashing of Honduras on Wednesday.
Neymar scored twice, including the fastest goal in Olympic history after just 15 seconds, as Brazil delighted a near capacity 78,000 crowd at Rio’s iconic Maracana to move to within one win of delivering a first ever football gold medal.
“Neymar is a monster. He has the gift of playing football, he delights everyone with his talent,” said Micale.
The sight of Neymar whipping up the crowd, whilst dancing with his shirt off at full-time completed a remarkable turnaround from the fierce criticism he received with Brazil on the verge of an embarrassing early exit a week ago.
Having drawn 0-0 against South Africa and Iraq in their opening two games, Brazil needed to beat Denmark in their final group game to ensure progress to the last eight.
However, three straight wins and 12 goals scored without reply has restored Neymar’s reputation as Brazil’s golden boy.
“Neymar has a lot of pressure on him. Right now he is enjoying a good moment, but a week ago he was suffering a difficult time with a lot of critics.
“He is the difference-maker in our group in the good sense.
“Neymar deserves our gratitude because he pushes Brazil to a higher level.”
The Barcelona star hasn’t forgotten the criticism he received, though, as he swerved the media after the match, drawing pantomime boos from local journalists.
A 2-0 win for Germany in the other semi-final against Nigeria in Sao Paulo sets up an intriguing final just two years after Germany humbled the Neymar-less hosts 7-1 on their way to winning the World Cup in Brazil two years ago.
After Neymar took advantage of Johnny Palacios’s error to open the scoring, Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus put the game beyond Honduras with two fine finishes before half-time.
Marquinhos, Luan and a Neymar penalty rounded off the scoring in the second-half.
And Jesus insisted Brazil have to be focused on gold and not revenge on Saturday.
“The most important thing is the gold,” said the 19-year-old.
“We have to give importance to something greater and now we have a very good opportunity at home.
“It will be a huge party if we win the gold, but we have to approach the game with wisdom, tranquility and maturity, especially without getting anxious in playing patiently.”
The 7-1 thrashing to Germany and early exits from the Copa America in each of the past two years has led to much soul searching about the state of the national game in Brazil.
Micale himself has highlighted the patience shown in the German model of bringing young players through over time as an example for Brazil to follow.
However, he insisted with Neymar and a crop of other highly-talented under-23 players on show at the Games, Brazilian football still has a positive future.
“Brazilian football is not dead. We have a good generation (of players),” he added.
“We have the silver, but we haven’t won anything yet.”
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