Brazil vs. South Africa: Score and Reaction from 2016 Olympic Men's Soccer

Brazil's 2016 Rio Olympics campaign got off to a turgid start in Group A after they ran to a 0-0 stalemate against 10-man South Africa at the Estadio Nacional Mane Garrincha in Brasilia on Thursday.

The South Americans dominated possession for much of the match and had a healthy supply of chances from corners, but Gabriel Jesus' glance against the post in the second half was as close as they came to scoring.

Eraldo Peres/Associated Press

Barcelona superstar Neymar failed to thrive as anticipated on his 2016 Olympics debut, and the result was even more embarrassing considering Mothobi Mvala was given his marching orders with 30 minutes remaining.

After grinding out an uninspiring, scoreless draw in their opener, Brazil's current lineup was even deemed inferior to that of four years ago by Nigerian broadcaster Deji Kofi Faremi:

The Selecao started Thursday's clash as the more threatening of the two teams, but the tactics of manager Rogerio Micale appeared to struggle in facilitating Neymar, one of the team's three overage players.

For the most part, South Africa did appear to be the side sitting back during the opening exchanges, which the Mirror's Jack Lang reflected in the response of the Brazilian wing-backs Douglas Santos and Zeca: 

That being said, South Africa weren't without their own share of a threat, although they did manage to land just a single shot on target throughout the opening 45 minutes, per Flashscores.

But Brazil made it to the interval without making the breakthrough in their 2016 Olympics opener, and FourFourTwo USA's Jeff Kassouf outlined the dynamic heading in at half-time:

In particular, it was clear Brazil might benefit from working to get Jesus in more space, considering the newly signed Manchester City forward held the greatest scoring promise for stretches.

Fan account Selecao Brasileira outlined the 19-year-old as the key to the Selecao's concerns, even though the pressure coming into the clash was placed firmly with captain Neymar:

Micale made the decision to introduce forward Luan in place of Lazio star Felipe Anderson on 60 minutes, and the substitute was crucial in crafting one of the biggest opportunities of the match soon after.

The Gremio attacker sliced a sharp ball through to Jesus at the far post, but he couldn't quite get to the pass on time and thudded his effort off the outside of the post, despite firing at an open goal.

Brazil were handed a lifeline, though, after Mvala was shown his second yellow in quick succession with half an hour left, and Kieran Canning of Agence France-Presse noted there would be no excuses for failing to do so:

Neymar next opened the space up for Gabriel Barbosa to get an effort on goal, but his scuffed attempt was deflected out for a corner, and Brazil's frustrations continued to grow.

After falling at the final hurdle at London 2012 and seeing the senior team disappoint at the 2014 World Cup, ESPN's James Tyler noted Brazil's under-23 side may indeed be over-reliant on Neymar:

Despite being reduced to 10 men, South Africa were hardly afraid to throw bodies forward when they did find space in the Brazil half, capitalising on Micale pushing his midfielders further up the pitch.

It was the Games hosts who ended with a greater threat on goal, just as they began, but South Africa goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune had enough about him to repel anything Brazil had to offer.

The hosts next play on Sunday when they'll come up against Iraq, who also drew 0-0 in their Group A opener against Denmark on Thursday.

South Africa will also return to action in Brasilia on Sunday, where they go up against the Danes and will be hoping to push off from a Thursday result they may well have been content with.

Post-Match Reaction

"That's football," Barbosa said on television following the draw, per the Daily Mail's Alex Bywater. "Sometimes the ball doesn't go in the net."

"We had the best chances but the ball didn't go in," Micale said, per the Associated Press' Tales Azzoni. "And we also have to give credit to South Africa, which has a very determined team and made it difficult for us to impose our game."