(Caracas) Brazil, double title holder, will not participate in the men’s soccer tournament of the Paris Olympic Games (July 26 – August 11), after its defeat against Argentina on Sunday during a meeting between hopeful selections at Caracas (1-0).
The Argentina of coach Javier Mascherano, thanks to a goal from Luciano Gondou, will compete in the men’s Olympic tournament which it has already won in 2004 and 2008.
The second South American ticket will be distributed either to Paraguay, which only needs a draw, or to Venezuela, for whom victory is imperative. The two teams face each other later on Sunday also in Caracas.
The disillusionment is immense for the Brazil of prodigy Endrick (17 years old), who only needed a draw against a great rival, Argentina, to try to win a third consecutive Olympic title among men this summer in France .
But it is Argentina which will have the opportunity to revive the sweet memories of the gold medals of 2004 with striker Carlos Tevez and coach Marcelo Bielsa, and of 2008 with Lionel Messi.
Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Venezuela hopefuls have reached the final phase of the South American qualifying tournament for the Olympics, a pool of four where each team plays each opponent once, with the top two qualifying for Paris.
At the Games, the selections of players under 23 may be reinforced by three elements outside the age limit.