Men's Football / Bronze Medal Game, Match 31
BRA vs. POR
Brazil Routs Portugal to Win Men's Olympic Football Bronze Medal
A hat-trick by BEBETO in the second half helped Brazil secure the bronze medal in a 5-0 rout over Portugal in men's Olympic Football on Friday in Athens, Georgia. First half goals by RONALDINHO and Flavio CONCEICAO inside the first 10 minutes put Brazil up early, while BEBETO punctuated the win with his three goals.
Brazil, an Olympic pre-tournament favorite to win the gold medal, regained some of its pride over Portugal. An opening game loss to Japan dazed many die-hard fans. The Brazilians appeared to have recovered from the opening setback until they saw a 3-1 semifinal lead over Nigeria turn into a disastrous 4-3 sudden-death overtime loss on Wednesday.
The medal winners wasted little time going for the win. RONALDINHO, on a well-played pass from JUNINHO, beat Portugal goalkeeper COSTINHA from 12 yards out in the 5th minute. Five minutes later, CONCEICAO knocked in a score on a pinpoint pass across the goalmouth from ZE MARIA.
The first of BEBETO's three goals came 2 minutes into the second half as he drew COSTINHA left and fired right. His second goal came on a penalty kick in the 54th minute. BEBETO's third goal came in the 75th minute when he faked the goalkeeper inside, maneuvered around and shot the ball into the empty net.
BEBETO's six goals for the tournament gives him the scoring lead, but Hernan CRESPO of Argentina, who has five goals, can claim the scoring title if he does well during Saturday's gold medal game against Nigeria.
Final Score: BRA 5, POR 0.
"We came here with the objective to win the gold medal," said Brazilian defender ZE MARIA, "but now we've received this (bronze medal) and I like it very much."
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