RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 21 - Neymar led Brazil from the front to give his country its maiden men�s football gold medal in Olympics.
In an eventful evening at the world famous Maracana Stadium here, the host nation avenged their 1-7 defeat in the 2014 World Cup semifinal with a 6-5 victory in penalties against World Cup champions Germany. The match ended 1-1 after a gruelling 120-minute battle of skill and power.
It may not be the World Cup final but the capacity 70,000-odd crowd enjoyed every moment of the match as players of both the teams delivered their best throughout the course.
Neymar put the hosts ahead with a superb free kick in the 27th minute but Germany captain Maximilian Meyer equalised in the 58th minute with a well-built move down the right flank.
There were no more goals in the remaining part of the match, officiated by Faghani Allreza of Ireland. At the shoot-outs, both the teams were on target hitting the net four times each, but Germany�s Nils Petersen spoilt their party as Brazil custodian Weverton made a brilliant save diving to his left.
Now it was skipper Neymar�s turn to take the fifth and final shot of the regular penalty shoot-out. The Brazilian captain, who appeared to have injured himself and was limping a little late in the game, moved up coolly and stood for few seconds with the ball as he did in the semifinal. Finally, he approached and after a curving run-up of few steps scored from the spot to send the yellowish stadium into frenzy.
Earlier during the match, Neymar was brought down almost 25 metres from the goal by a German defender. The angle was not conducive for a direct shot from the set piece. But the Barcelona�s champion striker curved the ball nicely and accurately to deceive the opponent goalkeeper Timo Horn at the right corner of the iron frame. After the goal, the German team got down into action and pushed forward more. They hit the bar twice before the break.
The artistic Brazilians were more aggressive but off a counter attack Germany drew parity to silence the stadium. Jeremy Toljan sent a low cross from the right and captain Maximilian Meyer swept home a lovely finish from about 10 metres, leaving no scope for Weverton to react.
It was the maiden Olympic football gold for Brazil as earlier stars like Ronaldo, Dunga, Careca, Edmar, Romario, Bebeto, Roberto Carlos, Rivaldo, Rolandinho failed to hit an Olympic gold. Earlier, Brazil had lost the Olympic final three times � in 1984, 1988 and 2012 and won bronze medals in 1996 and 2008.
The result means a unified Germany are now the only World Cup winners which never won the Olympic gold medal and the loss robbed them of a chance to complete the male and female double after their women�s team beat Sweden 2-1 in the gold medal match.
The weeping Brazilian captain said after the match, �Yesterday, we were criticised for poor start with 0-0 draw against South Africa and Iraq. But today we have replied with good football.�
The newly appointed Brazil coach Rogerio Micale added, �We have a batch of players who are extremely dedicated, professional and with great technical skill. I�ll leave here with the sensation of having done my duty.�