Neymar, Brazil Get Revenge On Germany For First Olympic Football Gold Medal

Brazil’s Neymar, centre, looks up after getting his gold medal during after the final match of the men’s Olympic football tournament between Brazil and Germany at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday August 20, 2016. Brazil won the gold medal on penalty shoot-out. Luca Bruno / AP Photo

In a match that went down to the wire in a penalty shootout, Neymar and his Brazilian team have won the country's first Olympic gold medal in men's football.

Saturday's match had ended in a 1-1 tie, sending its players to take penalty kicks that would decide the final outcome of the game. The penalty kicks were tied at 4-4 until Neymar, the team's star forward who had scored its only goal during regulation, made the winning kick. In an iconic moment, Neymar fell to his knees and onto his stomach, overwhelmed with emotion.

Brazil had won five World Cups, but before Saturday's match, the country had never won an Olympic gold medal in football (or soccer, as it is often referred to in America). The history-making victory may also be sweetened because it was against Germany - the team that handed Brazil an embarrassing 7-1 loss in the 2014 World Cup semifinals.

As The Guardian reporter Barney Ronay wrote, "For now, victory will provide a kind of exorcism, assorted spectres and shadows and traumas set aside in the moment of shared joy; the deeper, systemic problems with Brazil’s wonderfully fecund footballing culture hopefully sharpened rather than camouflaged by the glories on show here."

“Nothing will replace 7 to 1,” a Brazilian fan told the New York Times. “It’s impossible. But it eases the pain. We will hurt a little less.”