Host Brazil seeks its first-ever Olympic gold medal, while Germany looks to play spoiler by making them settle for the silver when these two teams collide Saturday in the gold medal match in Rio de Janeiro as part of the Summer Games.
Brazil has been haunted by the 2012 London Games in which it had to settle for the silver as Mexico went on to win the gold medal. Brazil also placed second in 1988 (Seoul), while it settled for bronze in 1996 (Atlanta) and again in 2008 (Beijing).
In the semifinals, Brazil decimated Honduras, handing it a 6-0 drubbing to advance back to the finals. Germany, meanwhile, shutout Nigeria, 2-0.
Neymar scored two goals in Brazil's victory over Honduras, including netting the fasted one in Olympic history 15 seconds into the game to set the tone for the contest.
"I would say, in the good sense, that Neymar is a monster," Brazil coach Rogerio Micale said, according to NBCOlympics.com. "He has a gift for playing football. He delights absolutely everyone with his talent. There are external factors that influence the way players develop and I think it is an opportunity to study what happened to him to see if we can replicate that with other players."
Micale believes Neymar has been a force for his group.
"He's the kind of player that when he is on a team, he kind of upsets the balance in a positive way," Micale said. "I think he is very happy on the team. The team has embraced him. He is living through a positive period as opposed to a week ago, when there was a lot of demands and pressure on him. I think we need to respect him and have him on our side."
Game Details & Live Stream
Matchup: Brazil vs. Germany men's soccer gold medal game
Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
Place: Rio de Janeiro
Watch Online: This game can be live streamed for free here.
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