Rio Olympics men’s soccer bracket 2016: Brazil demolishes Honduras

Brazil will face Germany in the Gold Medal match in the Olympic men’s soccer tournament.

Brazil will play for the Gold Medal in the Olympic men’s soccer tournament. The hosts defeated Honduras 6-0 in first semifinal. They will meet Germany in the Gold Medal Match.

Brazil’s game was over pretty much as soon as it started: Neymar scored after just 15 seconds, breaking the Olympic record for fastest goal.  One of the Honduran center-backs held onto the ball too long, knocking a pass off of the onrushing Neymar. The resulting ricochet put the Brazilian star through on goal. Honduran keeper Luis Lopez came sliding out, but only managed to knock the ball off Neymar and into the net.

Neymar would end up scoring Brazil’s last goal as well, in the 91st minute. Between Neymar’s bookends, Gabriel Jesus added a brace of his own. Marquinhos and Luan chipped in with a goal apiece.

Honduras simply had no answer for the higher-powered attack of the Brazilians, especially after conceding so early in the match.

Here’s is the updated Olympic men’s soccer bracket:

The hosts will face Germany in the final, who beat Nigeria 2-0 thanks to goals from Lukas Klostermann and Nils Peterson. The Germans didn’t bring anyone approaching the star power or skill of Neymar (they do feature Arsenal reserve Serge Gnabry), but Germany is Germany, no matter what level they play at.

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That means they are well-coached, disciplined and adept at getting forward. A tightly contested match can be counted on, but it’s difficult to see Neymar and company losing on home soil. Should Brazil win the gold, it will cap off a sensational run by the home team, giving the fans in green and yellow something to cheer about after a rough few years for the country’s soccer teams. In what has been a controversial Olympic year, this would be a monumental victory.