Mexico. Brazil. Men’s Olympic soccer final.
Famed Telemundo soccer voice Andrés Cantor is one of the people calling this gold medal matchup a “dream final” as both Mexico and Brazil are hoping to win their first men’s soccer gold on the brightest international stage.
Brazil is no stranger to accolades as the five-time world champions, who have also won the South American championship on eight occasions, and will hope to seal the deal at Wembley Stadium on Saturday after a 3-0 defeat of South Korea on Tuesday.
Mexico is coming off a similarly comfortable 3-1 semifinal win over Japan, but will take on the Brazilians minus star Giovani dos Santos.
Who do you have winning gold?
Brazil’s latest one-named star, in the same vein as Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka, is Neymar,who at the age of 20 is viewed as the future of Brazilian soccer – the Olympic leader now and the headliner for the 2014 World Cup to be held in Brazil.
“Every match is important to me, whether it’s a final or a league match,” Neymar said. “It will be my first final with Brazil and I’m proud to be here representing the country in such an important moment like this, our first Olympic final in 24 years.”
Mexico’s previous best finish was losing a bronze-medal game to Japan in 1968 in Mexico City,so excitement from their fans will be at a fever pitch.
A win by Mexico would be an upset – but not unprecedented after Mexico beat Brazil when the senior teams met in June, 2-0.
Unfortunately for Mexico, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez (whose club did not allow him to play in the Olympics) and Giovani dos Santos, the two stars who scored in that game, will not be playing in the final.
