Brazil vs South Africa for Olympics 2016 Soccer: Preview, Possible Lineup, Live Stream and Ticket Pricing
Five-time World Champion and host Brazil will collide with South Africa in the opener for the Rio 2016 Olympics in August 4, Thursday at Brasilia.
The team eyes to avenge their defeat from the defending champion Mexico in the London Olympics. However, the rivals will never saw early action with each other since Brazil is with Iraq and Denmark in Group A while Mexico is with Fiji, South Korea and Germany in Group C.
The biggest challenge coach Rogerio Micale is facing right now is the starting goalkeeper Fernando Prass who injured his elbow last Sunday. The Brazilian soccer confederation also decided that Prass will not play in the tournament after tests showed a fracture. Prass already missed two sessions last week. Coach Micale allowed him to stay a bit longer after appearing to have recovered but was ruled out after re-injuring the elbow in a pre-game warmup.
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Prass was expected to help star striker and Brazil's captain Neymar and midfielder Renato Augusto before being culled from the team. Neymar also suffered the same fate when he missed the crucial stages of the World Cup at home two years ago because of a back injury.
Meanwhile, South Africa's coach Ephraim Mashaba, will try to pull the team into similar standings when they conquered the Africa Cup of Nations two decades ago. The team will send to the arena goalkeeper Ithumeleng Khune, Rivaldo Coetzee, Kwanda Mngonyama and Gift Motupa.
The two protagonists will have their showdown on Thursday, August 4 at 3 p.m. at the Mane Garrincha Stadium. The televised coverage will be available at NBCSN, NBC Universo, NBC Olympic Soccer Channel and NBC Sports App.
Meanwhile, there are no available tickets from the organizers recently, although rumors said that there are online tickets that can be purchased from "resellers" at the risk of bogus sites. It was learned that the authorities have already made earlier warnings against such reports.
Apart from Rio de Janeiro, the soccer-crazed country will also hold events in Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Salvador, Sao Paulo and Manaus. These venues have already hosted during the 2014 World Cup, with the exemption of the Olympic Stadium in Joao Havelange.
The men's Olympic tournament is played with 16 teams, and the top two in each of the four groups advance to the quarterfinals.
