In terms of attacking talent, the home nation definitely holds the edge in this quarterfinal showdown. They have in their lineup one of the best soccer players of this generation in Neymar. The pressure definitely is on the Barcelona forward to give Brazil its first ever Olympic gold medal in the Men’s Soccer event.
After being a non-factor in Brazil’s opening two games, Neymar played much better in Brazil’s 4-0 thrashing of Denmark on Wednesday. The Barcelona forward has scored 46 goals in 73 international appearances for Brazil. It wasn’t just Neymar who stepped up his game in that must-win clash against Denmark. The highly-touted Gabriel Barbosa finally opened his account in these Olympic Games, scoring twice against the Danes. Gabigol has now scored nine goals in nine outings for the Olympic team.
Colombia, on the other hand, will rely on Teofilo Gutierrez to lead them past Brazil in this quarterfinal. The 31-year-old striker has been spectacular for the Colombians in this Rio Olympics, scoring in each of his country’s three group games. He scored the opener in Colombia’s 2-0 win over Nigeria that earned them the top spot in Group B. Gutierrez has now scored four goals in five appearances for Colombia’s Olympic team.
Key to Brazil’s unbeaten start in this competition has been their impregnable defense. Brazil have yet to concede a single goal in this tournament, recording clean sheets in each of their opening three matches. Their defensive masterclass can be attributed as well to the way they have dominated possession in their Group A games. In fact, Brazil controlled 75 percent of the possession in their four-goal rout of Denmark.
That’s a worrying concern for Colombia who have allowed four goals in this tournament thus far. The Colombians will take comfort in the fact, however, that they produced a clean sheet in their last group game against Nigeria. They managed to achieve that feat even though they only had 34 percent of the possession against the Nigerians. It’s crucial for Colombia that they remain solid at the back and just hit the highly-fancied Brazilians on the counter-attack.
Writer’s Prediction: Brazil (-231) ease past Colombia, 2-0.
