BRAZIL hero, Neymar has stepped down as captain of the national side after firing them to Olympic gold on Saturday night.
At their home Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil won the gold medal match against Germany after Neymar struck a 25-yard free-kick and then slotted home the winning penalty in a shoot-out.
Admitting after the game that it didn’t get much better than that, the 24-year-old told Brazilian media: ‘Today I stop being a captain.
“I will send a message to Tite [Brazil’s coach] that from now he can look for another captain. To- day I have become a champion and I give up the captain’s armband. It was something I received and honored with affection.
“I can’t begin to describe how I feel but I must say I have fulfilled my dream and to have fulfilled it in my home country makes me very proud.”
Neymar stressed that he knew he was going to get it right when it mattered most during the penalty shoot out.
“When I stepped out to take that kick, I told myself there was no way I m going to miss it.”
Other Brazilian players, who also spoke said they were happy the Olympics ended well, unlike the Brazil 2014 World Cup. Renato Au- gusto stated:
“I was born in this area (Maracana) so this is even more special. It doesn’t matter that it was against Germany. This has been a child- hood dream.”
Zeca on his part said, “This has nothing to do with Germany beating us in the World Cup. It did not matter who we played against. We just wanted the gold medal.”
The Barcelona forward also labelled the Olympic gold as one of the best moments of his life, as he sent a packed Maracana into raptures.