Gabigols! Brilliant Barbosa Stars as Brazil Recover Touch in Front of Goal

With two goals from Gabriel Barbosa, Brazil stormed past Denmark 4-0 to clinch a needed win and keep their spluttering Olympic football campaign on track. But besides the result, the hosts sent an ominous warning to the rest of the quarter-final participants, as they finally discovered their blistering best form. 

The vultures were already hovering overhead going into Wednesday’s clash at Salvador’s Itaipava Arena. Two games had passed without the Selecao even troubling the scorers, as minnows South Africa and Iraq held Brazil’s highly rated young team to goalless draws. 

Both of those ties had been accompanied by boos and jeers from the home stands. The noise began as a grumble in the opening match and rose to an accusing crescendo by the time the Middle Eastern side had inexplicably kept out Neymar and Co. 

But now manager Rogerio Micale’s men are breathing far more easily. Colombia loom in the quarter-finals, and while the South Americans will be tough opponents, they are far less formidable than the internal demons Brazil had to contend with. That is, before Gabriel ended a painful 206-minute scoring drought with an instinctive close-range finish. 

“We knew we could play better, as we did today. We had two great games, but the ball refused to go in,” an exultant Gabigol told reporters after his two-goal haul helped put Denmark to the sword (per Globoesporte, in Portuguese). 

Gabigol: “Bahia feels like home. The support of the crowd was amazing.” pic.twitter.com/4xYP7WvT1Q

— Seleção Brasileira (@BrazilStats2) August 11, 2016

“It was a nice victory, but it’s tough to talk. Our team played very well in the first two games, sometimes people only see the result and not the numbers behind the game. 

“Today we managed to play better as a group, with more patience. The fans helped and we played a great game.”

Part of Brazil’s renaissance was that added belief. The team have shown a remarkable consistency in peppering their opponents’ goal …

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