by ‘Ifreke Inyang

The coach of Brazil, Mano Menezes has spoken of his sadness, at missing out on gold, in the men’s football competition at the ongoing Olympics. An excellent brace from Mexican striker Oribe Peralta, ensured that they did not win the title that eludes them.

“I am very sad,” the 50-year-old told Globoesporte. “We had done an excellent job till we reached the final. We were confident in achieving gold, but we could not replicate our other performances. Despite creating good chances, we never scored the equalising goal.

“We can only recognise the superiority of our opponent and congratulate them for the prize we would have liked to see as ours.”

Star players, Neymar and Thiago Silva, agreed with their coach, but emphasised that it was time to move on and build for the future.

“If Mexico won, they were better,” Neymar told Espn Brazil. “Football is made up of wins and losses, no matter how much we try to honour this shirt.”

“We are still young, are not shaken, and want to lift our heads towards our next objectives. We already have another game on Wednesday with which to move on with.

“One has to hold his head up during this difficult time,” Silva said. “The members of this young team have their whole lives ahead of them.

“We’re hopeful next year’s Confederations Cup could end in our favour.”