RIO DE JANEIRO, Sporting Alert — Rio 2016 schedule continues on Day 2 Thursday morning with action in the Olympic Games men’s first round group stage of soccer, with all the games televising and streaming live.
Coverage begins at 12:00 p.m. ET, with Iraq taking on Denmark at Mané Garrincha Stadium, but without a doubt, the centre of attention will be on the host nation Brazil when they face South Africa at the same venue at 3 p.m. ET.
Leading forward Neymar, who skipped the Copa America in the USA earlier this summer is well rested and cannot wait to get on the field, as he seeks to lead his country to the gold medal.
After the women opened with a 3-0 victory over China in their group opener on Wednesday, Neymar and Co. will be hoping to hand the hosts a double delight in successive days.
Besides the Barcelona forward Neymar, Brazil will also be able to suit out the likes of Marquinhos, Douglas Santos, Rafinha, Renato Augusto, who replaced the injured Douglas Costa, the talented Walace, Gabriel Jésus and Gabriel “Gabigol” Barbosa.
Jésus and Walace are two of the young talents the nation is eager to see in action after they showed a lot of promises for their respective clubs.
The games expected to pull heavy viewing are the clashes between Portugal and Argentina, as well as Mexico against Germany.
Mexico and Germany will kick-off at 4 p.m. at Fonte Nova Arena, while the match-up between European champions Portugal and South American powerhouses Argentina will get going at an hour later at the Olympic Stadium.
In the meantime, close attention will also be paid to the Nigerian team which is expected to arrive just hours before their opening Rio 2016 contest.
The Africans, who will be skippered by Chelsea midfielder Mikel John Obi, were first held up in Atlanta, USA, because of a problem with the payment for their flight and then a further delay was caused by the size of the plane, which was deemed too small to accommodate the entire travelling party.
Nigeria will play Japan in its Group B opener and the team is expected to reach before the 9:00 pm ET kick-off.
“The players were uncomfortable with the size of the plane,” BBC Sport reported team media officer Timi Ebikagboro as saying.
“The [Nigerian] government stepped in,” he added. “The players have been assured of adequate medical care on the plane.
“It’s been challenging but most importantly we will be ready for the first game.”
Live scores of each Olympic Games match will be available on our live football page, as well as at www.livescore.com.
Rio 2016 Men’s Football Live Schedule
Day 2, Aug. 4
Iraq vs. Denmark, 12 p.m.
Honduras vs. Algeria, 2 p.m.
Brazil vs. South Africa, 3 p.m.
Mexico vs. Germany, 4 p.m.
Portugal vs. Argentina, 5 p.m.
Sweden vs. Colombia, 6 p.m.
Fiji vs. South Korea, 7 p.m.
Nigeria vs. Japan, 9 p.m.
