London 2012 Olympics: Neymar carries a nation’s hopes as Brazilians chase elusive gold

Many great players have tried and failed after him, including the likes of Rivaldo, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. Now it will be up to Neymar, the future of Brazilian football, to try to end decades of frustration and give the nation its first gold, the only trophy missing in football for the five-time world champions. Brazil are the favourites going into this evening’s final at Wembley against Mexico, a team who have had unusual success against their Latin American rivals in recent years and who will also be looking for their first Olympic gold. “We are very well prepared,” Brazil coach Mano Menezes yesterday. “We are confident after a solid campaign so far. We respect Mexico, it’s a great national team, but we feel we can beat them because we believe in our potential.” Anything but the gold will be considered a failure for Brazil, who established the London Games as the team’s priority this year and brought most of their top players for the competition. The Olympics are also an important test for the players – most of them will also likely be in the team trying to help Brazil win next year’s Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup at home. Victory would boost morale and show fans the national team is on the right track. Defeat could raise doubts and even cost Menezes his job. “We all know that we need to win the gold,” Menezes said. “Brazil has to win every tournament it plays, it needs to win every match it plays, even if it’s a friendly. And this time even more because it’s something the nation has never won before.” Brazil are playing in an Olympic final for the first time since the 1988 Games, when the team led by Romario and Bebeto lost 2-1 to the then Soviet Union. Brazil also lost the final four years earlier in Los Angeles, and have never again made it this close to victory. Bebeto, Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Roberto Carlos won bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Games, and Ronaldinho also finished third with Brazil four years ago in Beijing, when the team lost the semi-final to Argentina. Ronaldinho also was in the team eliminated by Cameroon in the quarterfinals of the 2000 Sydney Games. Brazil didn’t qualify for Athens in 2004. “It’s our third chance to win this gold and hopefully we will learn the lessons from the other finals we played and didn’t win,” Menezes said. Coaches who tried and never won the gold include Mario Zagallo in 1996, Vanderlei Luxemburgo in 2000 and Dunga in 2008. The player carrying the team’s expectations this time is 20-year-old Neymar, Brazil’s most talked-about player in years, touted by some to potentially become the best player in the world. “We came here for the gold and we are one match away from getting it,” said Neymar, who has been playing up to expectations so far with three goals and several assists in the team’s five victories so far. “We just have to do our job in the final.” But Brazil will be facing opponents who have been creating problems in recent years. Mexico have won six of their past 12 matches against the Brazilians since 1999, including that year’s Confederations Cup final. They have lost only four of those games and drew two. The Mexicans won the last time the teams played, a warm-up for the Olympics just a few months ago in the United States. Mexico won 2-0 in a match in which both teams played with many of the players who made it to London. “We are certainly using that match in our preparation for the final,” Menezes said. “They are playing here very similarly to how they played in that match.” Mexico’s task has become a little harder since forward Giovani Dos Santos was ruled out of the final because of a right hamstring injury. The son of a former Brazilian player, Dos Santos will be replaced by Marco Fabian. Mexico’s previous best showing at the Olympics was at the 1968 Mexico City Games, when the team was beaten in the bronze-medal match 2-0 by Japan. Brazil are expected to play with the same line-up from the 3-0 win over South Korea in the semi-finals. Brazil have won all of their matches so far, scoring three goals in each one of them. Last night, South Korea claimed their first-ever Olympic football medal as they saw off Japan 2-0 to secure bronze at the Millennium Stadium. Arsenal’s Park Chu-Young set them on their way with a superb solo effort in the 38th minute before skipper Koo Ja-Cheol sealed the win 11 minutes into the second half.