Olympics Men's Football Semi-Finals: Key Battles and Players to Watch

Four teams from four different continents remain in the hunt for an Olympic Games medal as the men's football competition reaches its decisive stage. The previous round brought a feast of goals and attacking play, and the last-four will surely be no different. 

Both Brazil and Germany have recovered from indifferent starts to the tournament to establish themselves as joint-favourites to reach the final.

A gold-medal match between the two football giants, and a chance for the home team to exact vengeance for the 7-1 World Cup thrashing by the Germans in 2014, adds extra motivation for Brazil manager Rogerio Micale's men—as if any were needed. 

But neither Nigeria nor Honduras can be ruled out. Both underdogs have played some direct, effective football at the Games and overcame daunting hurdles to leave themselves within touching distance of the medals. 

Wednesday will be another enthralling day of Olympic action, and the football tournament will take centre-stage.

However, only two teams can continue the battle for gold, and no side can take anything for granted at this stage. Here is everything you need to know about the two semi-finals.

Brazil vs. Honduras

5 p.m. BST/1 p.m. local time/12 p.m. ET, Estadio Maracana, Rio de Janeiro 

After four matches on the road across Brazil, the hosts will receive their first taste of the spiritual home of the nation's football on Wednesday as the Maracana welcomes them for the semi-final.

And fans in Rio will be hoping to greet the dynamic side of the last two outings, rather than the uninspired outfit that was held against South Africa and Iran in the opening group-stage games. 

The Selecao's last clash was a brutal affair, as Colombia doled out plenty of punishment before succumbing to goals from Neymar and Luan.

Honduras promise a similarly physical clash, having committed no less than 23 fouls during their 1-0 victory over South Korea to make a historic first semi. 

The Central Americans will also look to punish Brazil on the counterattack, meaning Micale's team must stay alert if they are to avoid being relegated to Saturday's bronze-medal consolation match rather than the final the entire country is desperate to see. 

Road to the semi-final 

Brazil

Group A: 0-0 vs. South Africa

Group A: 0-0 vs. Iraq   

Group A: 4-0 vs. Denmark

Quarter-final: 2-0 vs. Colombia

Honduras 

Group D: 3-2 vs. Algeria

Group D: 1-2 vs. Portugal

Group D: 1-1 vs. Argentina

Quarter-final: 1-0 vs. South Korea

Player to watch

It may have taken rather longer than most would have expected, but a lovely free-kick to break the deadlock against Colombia finally marked Neymar's introduction to the Olympic Games.

The captain has struggled to find his best football on home soil, and he took the boos and jeers along with his young team-mates early on when nothing was going right. 

The Barcelona star, however, has been rejuvenated by an upturn in form, both personally and collectively, and he will be the player to stop for Honduras as they bid for a shocking upset. 

Leo Correa/Associated Press

Key battle: Anthony Lozano vs. Rodrigo Caio

If Honduras can trouble what has been an exemplary if underworked Brazil defence, Lozano may be the man to do so.

The Tenerife player has slogged tirelessly leading the forward line, feeding off scraps and always helping to keep the team's counter play fluid.

Having additionally hit the net against Argentina, Lozano would love to complete the South American double and get the better of tenacious Caio. 

Nigeria vs. Germany

8 p.m. BST/4 p.m. local time/3 p.m. ET, Arena Corinthians, Sao Paulo 

One of the early pacesetters meet the steadily improving World Cup holders in an intriguing clash of styles.

Judging on the two teams' form going into this match, the only safe prediction would be to expect plenty of goals over the 90 minutes.

The African side have hit the net eight times so far in the competition, while Germany lead the scoring charts with a massive 19, although it should be remembered that 10 of those came against minnows Fiji.

Germany will start as slight favourites, but if the attacking axis of Mikel John Obi, Umar Sadiq and Oghenekaro Etebo can fire for Nigeria it could be a very tough clash for the Europeans.

Road to the semi-final

Nigeria

Group B: 5-4 vs. Japan

Group B: 1-0 vs. Sweden    

Group B: 0-2 vs. Colombia

Quarter-final: 2-0 vs. Denmark

Germany 

Group C: 2-2 vs. Mexico

Group C: 3-3 vs. South Korea

Group C: 10-0 vs. Fiji

Quarter-final: 4-0 vs. Portugal

Player to watch 

He has not caught the headlines as much as the goalscorers, but Matthias Ginter has been a solid, dependable presence in the centre of defence for Germany.

The Borussia Dortmund youngster is the only member of this Germany team to own a World Cup medal, and while he did not feature in a single game in the 2014 finals in Brazil, his experience of a major tournament has been an added plus. 

Arisson Marinho/Associated Press

Key battle: Timo Horn vs. Umar Sadiq

FC Cologne's shot-stopper has recovered after an uneven start to this Olympics to pick up two clean sheets when it counted, as the Europeans have advanced to the final rounds of the competition.

In Sadiq, however, the goalkeeper faces one of his biggest challenges so far, and he will have to keep out both the AS Roma youngster and Etebo to ensure progression to the gold-medal clash.