Rio 2016: Neymar, Gabriel Jesus fire Brazil into final

Neymar and Gabriel Jesus inspired Brazil as they beat Honduras 6-0 to reach the final of the Rio 2016 men’s football tournament, with Rogerio Micale’s men now just one win away from the country’s first-ever gold medal in the sport.

The hosts endured a difficult start to the tournament as they were held to goalless draws by South Africa and Iraq, but have been firing on all cylinders ever since – seeing off Denmark and Colombia – and they were once more in impressive form on Wednesday.

Neymar needed only 15 seconds to give Brazil the lead with the fastest goal in Olympic history, pouncing on an error from Johnny Palacios before beating goalkeeper Luis Lopez thanks to a touch of fortune.

The Barcelona attacker landed awkwardly after his goal and there were fears the Brazil captain would be forced off, but he was eventually able to continue after undergoing treatment.

The early opener proved to be an indicator of things to come for Brazil as their attacking quartet caused Honduras all kinds of problems – Gabriel Jesus made it two in the 26th minute with a calm finish after a delightful throughball from Luan.

Honduras made a number of poor tackles as they attempted to stop Brazil with a more physical approach, but that did not stop Gabriel Jesus netting a third 10 minutes before half-time after being set up by Neymar.

There was more to come after the interval as Marquinhos added his name to the scoresheet, tapping home a Neymar corner.

Brazil continued to dominate after the Paris Saint-Germain defender’s strike and Luan eventually got a deserved goal in the 79th minute, before Neymar converted a penalty in the dying minutes to double his personal tally as Micale’s men booked their ticket for the final in style.

Brazil will now face the winners of the second semi-final between Germany and Nigeria.