It was all just too much for Neymar. With the weight of his country’s Olympic dreams on his shoulders, the 24-year-old captain led the national team to the gold medal, scoring the winning penalty against Germany in a penalty shootout after his direct free-kick goal earlier in the game.
Brazil beat Germany 5-4 on penalties to clinch the Gold medal at the final of the 2016 Rio Olympics men’s football tournament, after the game finished 1-1 in extra time.
Captain Neymar opened the scoring in the first half with a free-kick, but Max Meyer was able to equalise with a penalty right before the hour mark.
Neither side were able to break the deadlock as the game went on into extra-time, with the clash proceeding to be decided via penalty shootout.
And it came down to Neymar to net the winning spot kick, after Nils Petersen had his saved by Weverton.
Neymar brought the Maracana Stadium to a boil when he scored the opening goal against Germany in the gold medal game on Saturday, a goal scored off a gorgeous free kick that went in off the cross bar.
After the ball went in, Neymar sprinted to the sideline and was mobbed by his teammates. He then appeared to pay homage to another great Olympian: Usain Bolt.
Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images
Bolt, a 9-time gold medalist, was in the stands for the game, so it would make sense that Neymar wanted to pay a little respect to the great one.
Some people are arguing he was doing the dab, but I don’t think so. This picture shows it:
AP Photo/Luca Bruno
The star attacker dropped to his knees in tears moments after converting the decisive penalty in a narrow win.
Goal/ For The Win
