Olympic Soccer Results 2012: The Road to the Gold Medal Match

The men's football tournament at the 2012 London Olympics is almost complete, with Mexico and Brazil to square off in the final—attempting to win Olympic gold and finish off what has been a fantastic campaign for both nations.

We look ahead to the final with eager anticipation—expecting to see both fascinating matchups and the sublime skill we've witnessed firsthand all tournament.

But before we take a look at what's to come, we must also take a look back at the competition that's been so far for Brazil and Mexico and examine the road to the gold medal match. For as Confucious once said, "Study the past, if you would divine the future."

Let's take a look back on the 2012 London Olympics and what the men's football competition has yielded for both Brazil and Mexico in order that we too many divine the future.

Group stages

Brazil entered the tournament as the hot favorites to claim their first Olympic gold medal, although they were bound to face tough competition from the likes of Spain, Uruguay and Mexico en route to the final. Their star-studded squad was full of attacking brilliance, and it looked certain that they would cruise their way through the opening rounds of the competition.

And whilst I wouldn't call it cruising, Brazil did pass through to the knockout stages atop of Group D with wins over Egypt, Belarus and New Zealand. Their attack was firing—netting three goals in all three matches—and whilst their defense did look vulnerable at times, they were clearing looking like the real deal at London 2012.

Mexico also finished on top of their group after the opening rounds, though they were nowhere near as convincing as the South Americans were.

After a sluggish scoreless draw to kick off the competition, Mexico strung together victories over Gabon and Switzerland—all without conceding a single goal.

Whilst the likes of Spain and Uruguay struggled to put away their opponents, Mexico were solid and complete right across the pitch, and set up a quarterfinal showdown against the surprising Senegal, who had progressed through to the knockout stages of the tournament.

Quarterfinals

It was here that Mexico conceded their first goal of the competition and found themselves in a tough fight to progress through to the semifinals. After taking a commanding 2-0 lead into the second half, the North American nation found themselves on level terms and heading into extra time with their African opponents.

But again, Mexico showed their class, composure and focus in front of goal to score their third goal of the match and take the lead. They found the back of the net again as Senegal pushed for an equalizer and would book their place in the final four of the 2012 Olympics with a scoreline that didn't accurately reflect their dominance of the match.

On the other side of the draw, it was once again a three-goal match for Brazil who similarly to Mexico, struggled to put away an opponent they should have beaten with relative ease. Honduras had surprised many to topple Spain, but they weren't expected to take the fight up to Brazil.

Especially not when they had players sent off—finishing the match with just nine men. The all-South American affair finished 3-2 to the way of Brazil, though Honduras had done themselves proud through their stellar performances.

Brazil's defense was the talking point, and after the D leaked goals right throughout the competition, many wondered whether it would be strong enough to handle a dynamic, counter-attacking team like South Korea or even Japan, should they meet in the final.

Semifinals

Football fans would get their answer soon enough as Brazil swept to a comfortable 3-0 victory over the Asian powerhouse—silencing the critics of their defense and confirming the sentiments of those who though their attack would deliver them to their first Olympic gold medal.

Leandro Damiao and Neymar simply ran riot through the Koreans and showcased just how strong Brazilian football truly is throughout the younger years—not that there were many doubts about that fact after seeing how deep and talented their squad was to begin with.

Mexico, too, would highlight their attacking dominance with an encouraging 3-1 victory of Japan, who hadn't conceded a goal in the tournament up until that point. After trailing early, Mexico fought back well into the match and simply ran over their opponents in the second half with their clinical attack—setting up a mouth-watering gold medal match against Brazil.

Gold medal match

And so, Brazil and Mexico will square off in the final of the 2012 London Olympics for a chance to clinch the gold medal—something that neither country has been able to do until now.

Both attacks look to be in fine form and whilst Brazil's is clearly the stronger of the two, Mexico cannot be discounted from being a genuine threat to the South Americans—especially given their most recent showing against Japan.

Both Brazil and Mexico are undefeated so far in the competition, though that will change soon, and both will strongly fancy their chances in the gold medal match.

Brazil are the favorites and deservedly so, but don't discount Mexico from causing a thrilling upset to conclude the football competition 2012 London Olympics. Given what we know, I say they come close and after conceding early, level the match at one-all—only to watch Neymar steal their glory in the final five minutes of the game.

Brazil wins 2-1.

Though I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Who's going to win the gold medal—Brazil or Mexico?

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