Sought-after starlet Gabriel Barbosa struck twice as Brazil’s footballers finally got their Olympic campaign rolling with a 4-0 demolition of Denmark on Wednesday, while their arch-rivals Argentina crashed out, AFP reports.
Barcelona star Neymar is still yet to hit the net, but he played the role of facilitator as Gabriel Jesus and Luan were also on target to end a run of over 200 minutes without a goal after stalemates with Iraq and South Africa raised fears of an embarrassing early exit.
Brazil’s much-needed victory sealed top spot in Group A to set up a quarter-final meeting with Colombia on Saturday.
“We showed a lot of patience, that was important and the fantasy arrived,” said Barbosa, a top target for a host of European clubs including Premier League champions Leicester City.
“It was a beautiful win. The first two games we didn’t play badly, but the goals didn’t come and sometimes the fans focus solely on the result.”
Crisis-hit Argentina didn’t survive a sluggish start as they were dumped out by Honduras, whilst 2012 gold medalists Mexico were also sent packing.
Freiburg striker Nils Petersen scored five times as world champions Germany smashed Pacific islanders Fiji 10-0 to seal their place in the last eight behind South Korea, who beat Mexico 1-0 thanks to Kwon Chang-Hoon’s stunning strike in Brasilia.
Colombia moved into the knockout stages by beating Nigeria 2-0 with captain Teo Gutierrez and Dorlan Pabon on target.
The Africans had already done enough to top Group B, rendering Japan’s 1-0 win over Sweden meaningless.
Denmark progressed despite defeat in Salvador as Iraq and South Africa played out a 1-1 draw in the other Group A match.
Portugal secured top spot in Group D with a 1-1 draw against Algeria in Belo Horizonte to set up a last eight meeting with Germany on Saturday.
South Korea face Honduras and Nigeria take on Denmark in the remaining quarter-finals.
Manchester City’s new recruit Jesus said before the game he didn’t care if Brazil’s sought after goal came “off a belly or a bum” and A Selecao got the luck they needed when Barbosa’s opener trickled into the far corner off his shin.
Jesus and Luan put the game beyond doubt either side of half-time before Barbosa fired in a deflected fourth 10 minutes from time.
