The best football scorers of the Olympics? No shortage of Neymar, Tevez reigns supreme

Since 1992, the men’s football tournament at the Summer Olympics has only been open to players under the age of twenty-three and a few players over that age. In addition, very few matches are played during the tournament, so anyone who wants to do well has to do really well.

There have been several great and even historic performances at these tournaments, and today we will take a look at the top five players who have made an indelible mark on history and in some cases helped their teams to medals.

5. Iván Zamorano – Chile

At the 2000 tournament, Chile were in a group with the favoured Spain, Morocco and South Korea. Thanks to a better score, Chile managed to advance from first place and secure a match with Nigeria. It managed to do so thanks to Zamorano’s goal and advanced to the semi-finals where it faced a tough Cameroon.

There, the magic of Iván Zamoran was not enough and it was only a 1: 2 defeat. In the bronze medal match, Chile faced the United States. However, Zamorano spoke again in this match, scoring two goals to secure a sensational bronze medal.

The bottom line is that the Chilean cannonballer scored 6 goals in 5 matches and is now tied for fourth and fifth place in this ranking. Zamorano’s greatest successes came in the White Ballet jersey, for which he scored 101 goals in 171 games. He also scored goals for Inter Milan and Sevilla.

4.LeandroDamião – Brazil

Brazilian striker Leandro Damião has stayed virtually his entire career in his native Brazil. At the 2012 London Olympics, he was part of the Brazilian squad that had the highest ambitions and he too was one of the players that the whole nation relied on.

The Canaries clearly progressed from the group with all nine points with a score of 9: 3 and faced Honduras in the quarter-finals. Here, it was Damião and Neymar, together with two goals, who took care of the progress. The next opponent was South Korea, who also did not give the Canaries any problems and after winning 3: 0 they could prepare for the golden match.

In the final, Brazil faced Mexico and even a late goal by striker Hulk could do nothing about the 1: 2 defeat. Damião and co. Thus, in the end, they didn’t win a single match, which meant only a silver medal for them.

Still, Damião did not disappoint, scoring six goals in five games. This was, of course, the imaginary highlight of his career. He played most of his time with Brazilian Internacional for whom he scored 67 goals. He is now retired from football in Japan with Kawasaki Frontale.

3. Neymar – Brazil

And Brazil again, this time in the summer of 2016 and the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The home Canaries didn’t speculate and advanced from first place in the group along with Denmark. In the quarter-finals, they then went down smoothly to Colombia and in the semi-finals to Honduras, whom they defeated 6-0.

In the final, the home team, Germany, who had also performed more than adequately throughout the tournament, awaited Brazil. The match was decided by a penalty shootout, where Neymar scored the winning penalty to help Brazil to the gold medal.

The Brazilian striker scored 7 goals in 12 matches during the tournament and is third in this ranking. The career of this footballer from the Lord God is connected with a lot of big transfers, but also with a few scandals. Neymar is an icon both in Brazil and in the entire football world, collecting both individual and team awards and has long been one of football’s top players.

2. Andrzej Juskowiak – Poland

1992 Summer Olympics in Spain. The Polish team advanced from first place in the group ahead of the favoured Italy with five points. The Polish cannonballer was prominent in every group match and had four notches on his imaginary arm after three games.

In the quarter-finals, Poland first took on Qatar and in the semi-finals they faced Australia, who they blasted 6-1. The demolition was led by the aforementioned Juskowiak, who scored a hat-trick. Poland and home team Spain made it to the final.

In the battle for the medals, however, the Poles could no longer compete with the much better Spanish team and after losing 2: 3 had to settle for silver. However, this did not change the fact that Juskowiak scored 7 goals in just six games and led Poland to a historic success.

Juskowiak’s career was mostly associated with Bundesliga teams. He worked there, for example, in Wolfsburg, Erzgebirge Aue, and Mönchengladbach. In Germany, he scored over a hundred goals for all clubs and was one of the biggest aces. He also played in Greece and Portugal and briefly tried his hand at overseas engagements with the New York Red Bulls.

1. Carlos Tevez – Argentina

The greatest cannonballer in the history of the Olympic tournament is none other than Fuerte Apache aka Carlos Tevez. The 2004 Athens Olympics kick-started his career and shot him to the stars he has been amongst throughout his time on football turf.

At the time, Argentina relied on names like Saviola, Delgado, and Gonzalez, but it was the young Tevez who became the main star and driving force. La Albiceleste initially advanced smoothly from the group with nine points, with a score of 9: 0.

They beat Costa Rica in the quarter-finals, Italy in the semi-finals and Paraguay in the final. Fuerte Apache was the top scorer in all the matches and with eight goals he took care of the gold medals for the Argentine team.

Thanks to his great performances, he was noticed by scouts from England and his transfer to West Ham began his journey on English turf. He played for both Manchester clubs and won the league at both. He also donned the Old Lady jersey before trying out an engagement in China in his old age, only to return to Boca Juniors at the end of his career, where he left in January 2005.

Source: Transfermarkt