Manchester: One match to go for Brazil. Only Mexico stands in the way of its first Olympic gold in football.
Brazil moved a step closer to winning the elusive medal by beating South Korea 3-0 on Tuesday and reaching the final of the men’s Olympic tournament for the first time in 24 years.
It will face Mexico, which defeated Japan 3-1 at Wembley to advance to its first Olympic final.
“It’s been a long time since we made it to this final and that shows how hard it is to get here,” Brazil coach Mano Menezes said. “This group deserves a lot of credit and they know that we are closer to finally winning the gold.”
Brazil was the bronze-medalist in 2008 in Beijing but hadn’t reached the final since the 1988 Seoul Games, when they won silver.
Brazil also won the silver in the 1984 Los Angeles Games and got another bronze in Atlanta 1996.
Now only the gold will do for a team which came into the London Games with most of its country’s best players and as the favourite.
“The entire team had a huge effort to reach the final,” striker Leandro Damiao said. “We are happy to have made it to the final and we are here to win the gold medal. We are Brazil, we are here for the gold.”
But the Brazilians struggled early against South Korea at Old Trafford before taking control of the match after defensive midfielder Romulo opened the scoring with a low shot from inside the area following a pass by playmaker Oscar in the 38th minute.
Damiao scored twice in the 57th and 64th to seal the victory and become the tournament’s leading goal scorer with six goals, surpassing Senegal’s Moussa Konate.
Mexico’s previous best showing at the Olympics was at the 1968 Mexico City Games, when they finished fourth.
It got the win on Tuesday thanks to a long-rage strike by Oribe Peralta in the 65th, breaking a deadlock after Japan opened the scoring in the 12th and Marco Fabian headed in a corner for Mexico’s equaliser in the 31st. Javier Cortes scored the third goal in second-half injury time. (AP)