Neymar and Brazil's men have been so bad in the Olympics that Neymar has reportedly been stripped of the Brazil captainship. Fortunately, Marta and Brazil's women are here to save the day, so much so that fans have started turning Neymar jerseys into Marta jerseys.
The Olympics are officially underway and the US is expected to win medals in several events, but there are two teams representing the US that may be disappointed with anything short of gold. The US Women's National Soccer Team and the US Men's Basketball Team are both ranked number one in their respective events and are the overall favorites to win, but which does one have more pressure to bring home gold than the other?
Mexico beat Fiji 5-1 Sunday in the Olympics, but it wasn't all good for El Tri. Striker Oribe Peralta and midfielder Rodolfo Pizarro have been ruled out of the tournament due to injury. Peralta, who scored Mexico's first goal in the opener against Germany, suffered a broken nose and Pizarro, who scored the other goal in the opener against Germany, has a fractured fibula.
Brazil vs. Iraq ended 0-0 in an extremely frustrating afternoon for the host nation. The result could see Brazil exit if they fail to get three points against Denmark.
Photo: @theafcdotcom | Twitter
Alfredo Talavera owes Erick Gutierrez a debt of gratitude. Talavera made the mistake that allowed Fiji to go 1-0 up on Mexico Sunday, and for a while it looked like Fiji might pull out the Olympic upset to end all Olympic upsets.
The USWNT has made it through their toughest game (on paper) of the group stage at the Olympics unscathed, beating the third-ranked team in the world, France, 1-0.
The goal, if you haven't already heard, came from USA co-captain and destroyer of worlds Carli Lloyd, who pounced on the rebound from a Tobin Heath shot that came off the post.
With a squad containing the likes of Neymar, Renato Augusto, Gabriel Jesus and Rafinha, it was understandable that a huge home crowd booed their own team off the pitch following a scoreless opening Olympic match against South Africa.
Brazil played the majority of the second half with a man advantage following Mothobi Mvala’s dismissal, but they could not find a way past South Africa despite registering 20 shots with seven of those on target.
Mexico and Germany got the Olympics off to a hot start with a 2-2 draw that made for a game that was both well-played and exciting.
One of Mexico's over-23 players, Oribe Peralta, opened the scoring.
Oribe Peralta's goal https://t.co/XgpaPsgRrq
— The18 (@the18soccer) August 4, 2016
The USWNT got their Olympics off to the start everyone was hoping for with a comfortable, injury-free 2-0 win against New Zealand.
New Zealand played a physical, bruising style of soccer, but in the end the USWNT's skill advantage won out.
Having the best player in the world helps too. Carli Lloyd got the USWNT on the board in the first half, heading in a Tobin Heath cross.
The Nigerian men’s soccer team has been training for the Olympic tournament in Atlanta for the last month. Now, with less than 36 hours before their first match against Japan in Manaus, the Nigerian team remains in their Atlanta hotel.
According to the BBC, an unpaid flight bill resulted in the airline refusing to take the team to Brazil.