2 Aug 2012

Brazil end Oly Whites' Olympic hopes

6:19 am on 2 August 2012

The New Zealand men's football team is out of the London Games after losing to Brazil 3-0 in their final pool match.

The Oly Whites were an outside chance of reaching the quarterfinals stage, needing to defeat the star-studded Brazilian side and have other results go their way.

But the New Zealanders were outclassed at St James' Park in Newcastle on Wednesday. Brazil had nearly twice as much possession and led 2-0 at halftime.

Danilo and Leandro Damiao were the scorers in the first half, and midfielder Sandro added the third in the second spell.

New Zealand's Michael McGlinchey had a drive deflected over the bar just before full-time, but the Brazilians had several more scoring chances with 24 shots at goal to New Zealand's 10.