Brazil kick off Rio 2016 hoping to claim first-ever Olympic gold in football

Two years ago the nation wept at the sight of a stricken Neymar exiting the World Cup on a stretcher.

Hosts Brazil have ghosts to lay to rest when the Olympic football tournament gets the Rio 2016 Games under way later today.

Two years after the nation wept at the sight of a stricken Neymar exiting the World Cup on a stretcher and the 7-1 semi-final capitulation to Germany which followed, the hosts have the chance to ease those painful memories over the next two-and-a-half weeks.