The Brazil men’s soccer team walked off the pitch with jeers ringing in its ears as the host nation suffered an embarrassing 0-0 draw against 10-man South Africa in the Summer Olympics opener for both sides on Thursday at Mane Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia.
The South Africans went down to 10 men in the 59th minute when defender Mothobi Mvala got a second yellow card for a clumsy tackle and was sent off. But rather than detail all of Brazil’s missed chances (there were many), all you need to know is that coach Rogerio Micale’s side blew a golden — well, a great opportunity to begin its gold-medal quest with three points.
Disappointment at big tournaments is becoming a disturbing trend for this once-proud footballing nation. But what’s different about this latest underachievement is that squarely in the middle is national darling Neymar.
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Neymar had the bulk of Brazil’s 20 shots and produced five of the team’s seven shots on goal. But results are what matter and the pressure has increased even more heading into Brazil’s must-win game against Iraq on Sunday.
This burden is new for the 24-year-old Barcelona star. Of Brazil’s nightmarish 7-1 demolition by Germany in the 2014 World Cup semifinals, the only members of that Selecao side who were exempt of the host country’s scorn were captain Thiago Silva and Neymar. Silva missed the embarrassing defeat due to a red-card suspension, while Neymar was ruled out for the rest of the tournament due to a back injury.
And when Brazil crashed and burned again at this summer’s Copa America Centenario, Neymar did not bear the brunt of the criticism back home because he wasn’t on the team. He was being saved for the Summer Games as Barcelona would only allow him to compete in one summer tournament.
Neymar can’t escape the blame this time. He was chosen specifically to lead the team to win the one gold medal that matters most for Brazilians at these Games.
One draw after one game is way too early to draw any conclusions. But Neymar and his teammates just got the same end-of-game reception as Solo for her Zika-fearing social media posts that were perceived to be insulting to Brazil. The American goalkeeper got booed throughout the game. More scoreless soccer would put Neymar and Brazil in the same boat.
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