Olympic Football – Mens Brazil v Mexico

The Olympic Gold medal match takes place on Saturday at Wembley Stadium between two teams from the American continent who have never claimed the title before.

Brazil have probably taken this tournament the most seriously out of all the entrants; Argentina’s win in Beijing four years ago was one factor, but they are also using this competition to garner some winning momentum ahead of the World Cup in 2014.

Mario Menezes will be in charge when Brazil host football’s elite competition in two years time, and he has been the head coach during this Olympic campaign, a sign of the intent the Brazilian federation’s desire to win Gold in London this summer.

Mexico have never won any medals for Olympic football but they are at least guaranteed a silver here; something that will allow the Mexicans to play in an open and relaxed style, which will hopefully produce an exciting, goal strewn game on Saturday afternoon.

They came alive in the knockout stages (beating Senegal 4-2 and Japan 3-1), proving they can handle the pressure of performing and creating goal scoring opportunities when it really matters.

Brazil’s incredibly strong squad have looked like winners from the very first game, overcoming one of the African favourites Egypt 3-2.  The confidence and slick passing of Neymar and Oscar, allied with the finishing of Leandro Damiao (6 goals in 4 games) has allowed the Brazillians to score 3 goals in every game they have played so far.