Burning Questions for the Men's Soccer Tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Olympic men's soccer tournament begins on Thursday across Brazil as 16 nations vie for the coveted gold medal.
Host nation Brazil headline Group A, while Mexico and Germany are the top teams in Group C. Argentina and Portugal lead Group D, while a conglomerate of four nations will be fighting for first in Group B, including Sweden and Colombia.
All four groups will play on the same day, starting Thursday. The following sets of matches will occur on Sunday and Wednesday.
With play beginning in Brazil, we decided to take a look at the five burning questions surrounding the competition.
Will Neymar and Brazil Be Able to Handle the Immense Pressure?
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The one gold medal all of Brazil cares about winning is the men's soccer one.
The Brazilian program is still reeling from the demoralizing 7-1 loss to Germany in the 2014 FIFA World Cup semifinals.
This summer did not get off to a good start for the Selecao as they crashed out of the Copa America Centenario at the group stage, and Dunga was subsequently fired as manager.
Superstar forward Neymar was specifically held out of the Copa to represent the host nation at the Olympics alongside plenty of other talented young players.
There will be an immense amount of pressure on the Selecao to make it to the final at the Maracana on August 20. The Selecao should easily get out of their group and a win in the quarterfinal round of the Group B runner-up seems likely.
However, the semifinal round against either Mexico or Germany will be tough. If Germany win Group C, it could set up a revenge match of sorts for the Selecao before they reach the final.
If they do reach the gold-medal match, the pressure on the team building up to the match and during the contest will be suffocating. How the hosts deal with that could determine their fate.
Will Mexico Repeat as Gold-Medal Winners?
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Repeating the gold-medal winning feat of 2012 will not be an easy task for Mexico.
El Tri are in the same group as Germany, and they are expected to play either Argentina or Portugal in the quarterfinal round. If they reach the final four, Mexico should take on host nation Brazil in a match that could be worthy of a final.
The Mexico roster contains more experience than some of the other nations at the Olympic tournament and all three of their overage players will be solid contributors.
If everything goes to plan, the Mexico attack could be fun to watch with Oribe Peralta, Hirving Lozano, Erick "Cubo" Torres and Marco Bueno all fighting for playing time at forward.
Which Nation Will Be the Surprise Cinderella?
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Every major tournament contains a nation that comes out of nowhere and gains the attention of the world.
Venezuela and Iceland did that at the senior level earlier this summer in the Copa America Centenario and Euro 2016.
Although the pool of teams is smaller than a normal competition, there is still potential for one of the smaller nations to make a surprise run to the medal round.
Since most of the attention will be focused on Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Portugal and Argentina, a side like Japan or Colombia could fly under the radar in the group stage.
However, if you're looking for the ultimate Cinderella to root for, look no further than Fiji in Group C and Algeria in Group D. If either team can pull off a miraculous result or two, one of the favorites will go home earlier than expected.
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How Will the Condensed Schedule Affect the Teams?
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The Olympics carry a unique quality in that group games are played every three days, and the entire competition will be wrapped up in two weeks.
The Games also hand teams a challenge because of the smaller roster size allowed compared to most other major tournaments.
If certain players don't recover in time, managers will have to adjust their lineups accordingly, and it could affect results.
In addition to those circumstances, there will be plenty of travel after the second group games. The four sides in Group B also have to deal with playing the awful conditions at the Arena Amazonia in Manaus.
The squads that manage all the challenges and matchups properly will have the best chances of earning gold.
Who Will Be the Breakout Stars of the Tournament?
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There are plenty of candidates for breakout star of the 2016 Olympic tournament.
Plenty of eyes will be on Neymar, and rightfully so, but there are a plethora of young stars ready to break out during one of the world's top youth tournaments.
Germany's Leon Goretzka leads the list of players to keep an eye on Brazil as well as Portugal's Sergio Oliveira.
Other big names worth watching are Argentina's Angel Correa and Mexico's Hirving Lozano are worth watching as well.
As always in any major tournament, there will be players who come up out of nowhere to surprise us and potentially earn moves to bigger clubs around the world.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
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