Neymar did not score, but it did not matter, because Brazil did, for the first time in the men's football tournament of the Rio 2016 Olympics, four of them for good measure, as the home team finally found their mojo at the right time. Needing a win to make it to the quarterfinals, Brazil turned on the style against Denmark, much to the delight of the home crowd at the Fonte Nova Arena.
Brazil were booed off the pitch by their own supporters after their second match, a goalless draw against Iraq, which came after an opening 0-0 result over South Africa. So, with times turning desperate, the much-vaunted attacking lineup of Brazil had to step up, and they did, with Gabriel Barbosa, the subject of a big bid from Leicester City, grabbing a brace, while Gabriel Jesus, the new Manchester City signing, and Luan added a goal each in a comprehensive 4-0 victory.
Despite the heavy loss, Denmark joined Brazil from Group A in the knockout stages, thanks to their earlier results.
The other teams to enter the quarterfinals are Nigeria, Colombia, South Korea, Germany , Portugal and Honduras, with Argentina and Mexico, the defending champions, knocked out of the competition after failing to pick up a win in their last group stage match.
Needing a win against Honduras to stay in the Rio Olympics, Argentina could not quite find their form in front of goal.
After a goalless first half, Honduras, who only needed a draw to go through, were the ones to take the lead, with Antony Lozano scoring in the 70th minute. While Argentina found an equaliser in the third minute of stoppage time, through Mauricio Martinez, it was all a little too late for the country that usually do so well in junior tournaments.
Joining Honduras in the quarterfinals from Group D are Portugal, who finished their engagements with a 1-1 draw against Algeria.
The biggest win of the day in the Germany vs Fiji match, with the Germans scoring ten goals past their opponents. Nils Petersen netted five of those goals, with Arsenal winger Serge Gnabry continuing his good form with a brace, while Maximilian Meyer finished with a hat-trick.
That massive win, however, was still not good enough to help Germany top Group C, with that honour going to South Korea, who beat Mexico 1-0, thanks to a 77th minute strike from Chang-hoon Kwon, with that goal also knocking the gold medal winners from the London 2012 Olympics out of the competition.
Nigeria had already qualified for the quarterfinals going into the final round of Group B matches, and Colombia joined them in the last eight after a 2-0 win over the African side. Teofilo Gutierrez got the ball rolling for Colombia with a goal in the fourth minute, before Dorlan Pabon iced the game three minutes past the hour.
Results: Group A: Argentina 1-1 Honduras; Algeria 1-1 Portugal. Group B: South Korea 1-0 Mexico; Germany 10-0 Fiji. Group C: Japan 1-0 Sweden; Colombia 2-0 Nigeria. Group D: South Africa 1-1 Iraq; Brazil 4-0 Denmark.
