Brazilians seek first Olympic soccer gold

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This article was published 10/08/2012 (5183 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LONDON — Brazilian soccer players were treated to a barbecue with relatives to celebrate reaching the Olympic final for the first time in 24 years. It was the most relaxed moment so far in a month that’s been all business as they try to win the nation’s first gold in football.

Now it’s time to get back to work.

After some rare time off, the Brazilians returned to practice Thursday and started focusing again on the final against Mexico on Saturday at Wembley.

The team is looking for that elusive gold, and players say they can’t wait to try doing something even former greats such as Romario, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo couldn’t achieve.

Brazil has won four Olympic medals, but none of them gold. The Olympic tournament is the only significant football competition the five-time world champion hasn’t won.

The Brazilian federation arranged a traditional Brazilian barbecue for the players Wednesday, the day after the team beat South Korea 3-1 in the semifinals. The players’ relatives were allowed to participate.

Brazil will be playing in its third Olympic final, but the first since the 1988 Seoul Games, when a team led by Romario, Bebeto and Careca had to settle for silver after losing the final 2-1 to the Soviet Union.

“We know how difficult it is to win it, because otherwise all these great players would have won it already,” said Neymar, Brazil’s biggest star at the London Games.

— The Associated Press