Richarlison inspires Brazil to beat Germany

Everton striker Richarlison scored a first-half hat-trick as Brazil’s men began their Olympic campaign with a 4-2 victory over Germany.

In a repeat of the 2016 Olympic gold-medal match, the defending champions raced into a commanding lead despite Matheus Cunha having a penalty saved.

Richarlison scored on the rebound inside seven minutes, before heading home a second and curling in his third inside 30 minutes.

Germany put up more of a fight after the break as goals from Nadiem Amiri and Ragnar Ache made it 3-2, making it a nervous finish for Brazil.

Everton striker Richarlison scored a first-half hat-trick as Brazil’s men began their Olympic campaign with a 4-2 victory over Germany.

In a repeat of the 2016 Olympic gold-medal match, the defending champions raced into a commanding lead despite Matheus Cunha having a penalty saved.

Richarlison scored on the rebound inside seven minutes, before heading home a second and curling in his third inside 30 minutes.

Germany put up more of a fight after the break as goals from Nadiem Amiri and Ragnar Ache made it 3-2, making it a nervous finish for Brazil.

Everton striker Richarlison scored a first-half hat-trick as Brazil’s men began their Olympic campaign with a 4-2 victory over Germany.

In a repeat of the 2016 Olympic gold-medal match, the defending champions raced into a commanding lead despite Matheus Cunha having a penalty saved.

Richarlison scored on the rebound inside seven minutes, before heading home a second and curling in his third inside 30 minutes.

Germany put up more of a fight after the break as goals from Nadiem Amiri and Ragnar Ache made it 3-2, making it a nervous finish for Brazil.

But Bayer Leverkusen striker Paulinho finished brilliantly in injury time to make it 4-2 and put the game beyond the Germans.Also in Group D, AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie scored in Cote d’Ivoire’s 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, Spain were held to a goalless draw by Egypt in the opening game of the men’s competition despite the inclusion of Euro 2020 young player of the tournament Pedri.

A frustrating result for Spain was compounded by an ankle injury to Real Madrid’s Dani Ceballos as they struggled to break Egypt down.

Meanwhile, France’s Olympic tournament got off to a disastrous start as they were thrashed 4-1 by Mexico.

Elsewhere, New Zealand made history with their first ever win in men’s football at the Olympics – a 1-0 victory over South Korea.